[2] A supporter of trade unionism, Tevenan became active in the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, and served on its executive committee from 1891 to 1893.
[3] After spending a period as an insurance agent and running to become an elected auditor in Stockport,[4] in 1905 he found work as joint organiser of the Municipal Employees' Association (MEA),[5] later becoming the union's North East District Secretary.
Taylor responded by resigning and setting up the rival National Union of Corporation Workers, while Tevenan was reinstated.
The MEA merged into the new union, and Tevenan served as one of its first two joint assistant general secretaries,[2] and head of its municipal department.
At the 1918 United Kingdom general election, he stood as its candidate in Liverpool Edge Hill, taking second place with 36.2% of the vote.