His earliest known involvement was in 1879 when he was part of a deputation of tradesmen and working men who attended a meeting at Swansea to request Richard Fothergill, one of the two sitting members to offer himself once again as a candidate for the Merthyr Boroughs. Fothergill eventually declined the invitation. Leaders of the Baptist denomination in the Aberdare Valley, most notably Thomas Price, had been instrumental in securing Fothergill's election for Merthyr Boroughs, alongside Henry Richard in 1868. It is, therefore, significant that Harris, as a proniment Baptist as well as a tradesman, was a member of the deputation.