Born and educated in Gowerton in Glamorgan, Bowen left school aged eleven to work at the Post Office.

At the 1929 general election, he instead stood in Crewe and immediately won the seat, but he lost it in 1931 and failed to win it back in 1935.

[2] Bowen stood down as secretary of the Post Office Workers in 1936, and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire three years later.

He represented the LCC on the Nurses Salaries Committee chaired by Lord Rushcliffe which published two reports in 1943[3][4] He lost the LCC seat in 1949, but despite no longer being a member of the council, the Labour group ensured his election as the council's Chair.

He served in the position for three years, winning an aldermanic seat in 1951 to remain on the council after his time as chair finished.