Charles Jolley was active in local politics being elected to the Borough Council from 1885 to 1890 and was an active member of the Estate and Finance Committee. On the 10th November 1890 he was elected Mayor of the Borough, succeeding Charles Parker, the owner of the Shoe Company in which he was employed. Kelly's Directory shows him to be an Alderman of the Borough from at least 1902 to 1910. During his Mayoral tenure Charles dealt with numerous issues including the following:-

• Granting permission for the London and North Western Railway to carry out work at Higham Station which involved deviating a road and taking land.

• Agreeing to the repair of a pump and Corporation buildings at a cost of £15.12s.11d.

• Providing allotments for the Town.

• Erecting Post Boxes and an automatic stamp machine.

• Agreeing to have the Town sewers flushed out as the effluent was discharging into an open ditch. This involved ordering the light sewer soil cart to be mended to enable the main sewer at the south end of the Town to be cleared.

• Allowing Shooting Galleries to be placed on Market Hill at a charge of 1/- per foot frontage.

• Organising flood protection for the south end of the Town.

• Sending a sample of water from the old Town Well, near the Walnut Tree, to the Medical Officer for analysis.

Charles died on August 1st 1912, aged 83 years. He was survived by only two of his nine children, Charles Edward, 1860-1949 and William Pack, 1873 - 1940. Only two of his other children survived infancy - James, 1864 - 1897 and Arthur, 1871 - 1897.