Holden found himself under investigation from the Political Labor League which recommended to the 1914 state conference that Labor endorsement of his candidacy for Redfern council in the 1914 municipal elections be refused. Holden, retiring as mayor of Redfern, but continuing as an Alderman was nevertheless reelected in his council seat ahead of the Labor-endorsed candidate. By 1916, however, a Labor executive minute noted that Holden's employees in his shop were now union members and he was now able to continue as a Labor-endorsed member. Despite being a personal friend of McGowen, Holden did not follow him or John Leitch when they were expelled from the Labor party over the conscription question. Holden opposed Jack Lang in the 1931 split and sat as Federal Labor until the reconstitution of the chamber in 1934, when he retired. Holden died on New Year's Eve at Ashfield in 1938 whilst still serving as a Redfern Alderman. His son Thomas Sinclair Holden was also a member of the council, elected at the first indirect elections for the council.