 In 1925, she was selected as a Labour candidate for a marginal seat, The Wrekin, in Shropshire – like Stroud, a largely rural constituency with a mining community of about four thousand; and she became a close friend of the local miners' agent William (Bill) Latham – "A splendid old man, he was a strong chapel man and his speeches full of Old Testament phraseology and references".Although an Anglican, she was frequently asked to preach in the local chapels of the Wrekin area, and at the 1929 general election she won the seat by nearly 3,000 votes.When the results were announced "some in the vast crowd, sang the doxology 'Praise God from whom all blessings flow' – this was caught up by a large number and swelled into a loud chorus".