office Wilkinson was an early and lifetime supporter of the National Council of Labour Colleges, established in 1921 with NUDAW backing with the aim of educating working-class students in working-class principles. She became a NUDAW-sponsored parliamentary candidate, and in 1923, while still a CPGB member, sought nomination as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for the Gorton constituency. She was unsuccessful, but in November 1923 the Gorton ward elected her to Manchester City Council; Hannah Mitchell, her co-worker in prewar suffrage campaigns, was a fellow councillor. In her short council career—she served only until 1926—Wilkinson's main areas of concern were unemployment, housing, child welfare and education. When the prime minister, Stanley Baldwin, called a general election for December 1923, Wilkinson was adopted as Labour's parliamentary candidate for Ashton-under-Lyne. She made no secret of her Communist affiliations, stating that "we shall have only one class in this country, the working class". In a three-way contest she came third, behind the Conservative and the Liberal candidate. The general election resulted in a hung parliament, and a minority Labour government under Ramsay MacDonald took office. During its short term in power, the Labour Party proscribed the Communist Party and outlawed dual membership. Faced with a choice, Wilkinson left the CPGB, citing the party's "exclusive and dictatorial methods which make impossible the formation of a real left wing among the progressives of the Trade Unions and the Labour Party". After this, she was selected as Labour's candidate for the constituency of Middlesbrough East. Middlesbrough MP In opposition, 1924–29 On 8 October 1924 MacDonald's Labour government resigned, after losing a confidence vote in the House of Commons. The latter stages of the ensuing general election were dominated by the controversy surrounding the Zinoviev letter, which generated a "Red Scare" shortly before polling day and contributed to a massive Conservative victory. Labour's representation in the House of Commons fell to 152, against the Conservatives' 415; Wilkinson was the only woman elected in the Labour ranks, winning Middlesbrough East with a majority of 927 over her Conservative opponent. Wilkinson's arrival in the House of Commons attracted considerable press comment, much of it related to her bright red hair and the vivid colours of her clothing. She informed MPs: "I happen to represent in this House one of the heaviest iron and steel producing areas in the world—I know I do not look like it, but I do". The