The Colne Valley was at the very heart of the Luddite disturbances at the start of the nineteenth century but there is no record of involvement by anyone from the village. Nevertheless, it is inconceivable that residents were unaware of what was taking place.

A booklet issued to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the the Liberal Club states that it  was conceived n 1888 and opened the following year. However, a report in 'The Times' for 1875 indicates that 6 members of Scapegoat Hill Liberal Club attended a meeting of the National Reform Union. No further records have come to light. Was this a short-lived venture, revived with greater success 10 years later? Perhaps it was a subterfuge by the Liberal Club in Golcar to increase its representation.

In 1908 a Socialist Club opened (above a butcher's shop). Other than records of the opening, very little has come to light of this venture.

Perhaps the most significant political act to have taken place in the village occurred in 1905 when the minister of the Baptist Church was imprisoned for 4 days for refusing to pay his rates in protest at the portion being used to fund Church of England education. He repeated the act the following year but, on that occasion saved from further incarceration when an anonymous donor paid his fine. He was not the only non-conformist minister to take such action but was unique in this area. Shortly afterwards, he moved from Scapegoat Hill.

An account in a the local press provides a suggestion of contempt by residents for authority, recording mild jeering, particularly directed at Clerk of the Local Board, when local councillors made a tour of the area in 1878.