Oram was on the Palmerston North Borough Council (1920–1927). In the , he was a candidate of the anti-Labour Democrat Party in the electorate. The Democrats stood 50 candidates in the 1935 election, but none of them were successful. Their main effect was to split the vote on the right, resulting in several electorates going to Labour. This may well have happened in Manawatu, where Labour's Lorrie Hunter unseated Reform's Joseph Linklater by a margin of just 30 votes (2,962 votes versus 2,932), with Oram coming fourth (673 votes). In 1936, the Democrats merged with other parties to form the National Party, contributing the most conservative perspective.