 Initially a Bevanite, he joined NALGO as Deputy General Secretary in 1958, eventually becoming, in the words of the journalist Geoffrey Goodman, "the essence of a moderate, statesmanlike trade-union leader".In 1973 he became the union's General Secretary and a member of the TUC General Council.He supported the Wilson and Callaghan governments, and in 1978 was one of the influential trade union leaders appointed to the National Economic Development Council (known as "Neddy").