Editing Frank Forde (section)

===State politics===
Forde joined the Labor Party in 1915, at the urging of state MP [[James Larcombe]], who became his mentor. In 1917, aged 26, he won a by-election to the [[Electoral district of Rockhampton|seat of Rockhampton]] in the [[Queensland Legislative Assembly]]. It had been vacated by [[John Adamson (Queensland politician)|John Adamson]], who had resigned from the Labor Party in the wake of the [[Australian Labor Party split of 1916|1916 party split]] and unsuccessfully sought [[Nationalist Party (Australia)|Nationalist Party]] preselection for the [[Australian Senate|Senate]]. Forde was re-elected to Rockhampton at the [[1918 Queensland state election|1918]] and [[1920 Queensland state election|1920 state election]]s. He was a supporter of the Central Queensland Separation Movement, one of the many [[List of proposed states of Australia|new state movements]] active around that time.{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=241}}