 In 1916 he was offered the chance of exemption from military service on trade and health grounds, but preferred to take his stand as a conscientious objector.Refused exemption in that category, he was forcibly enlisted, and sentenced to two years imprisonment for disobeying an order; he then accepted the Home Office Scheme, and was transferred to Princetown Work Centre in the erstwhile Dartmoor Prison.Fred Longden was elected Member of Parliament for Birmingham Deritend, 1929-1931 and 1945–1950, and then in 1950 for Birmingham Small Heath, which he retained until his death in 1952 aged 58.