Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Ta shiga kungiyar 'yan gurguzu ta matasa a lokacin da take da shekaru 16 a lokacin yajin aikin gama gari na 1926 United Kingdom
, kuma ba da daɗewa ba bayan haka an ga shi yana jagorantar tarurruka tare da shugaban kungiyar kwaminisanci na kwaminisanci Arthur Horner, kuma daga baya ya shiga CPGB. Kodayake ita ma memba ce ta Jam'iyyar Labour ta Burtaniya, ta kasance memba ce ta CPGB. A lokacin shekarunta na matasa a Karatu, Silverthorne ta tallafawa kanta ta hanyar sayar da "Ma'aikacin Yau da kullun" ga ma'aikatan jirgin kasa, kuma ta yi aiki a matsayin Nanny don Karatun Labour Party MP kuma wanda ya kafa Socialist Medical Association (SMA), Somerville Hastings. An san cewa Hastings ya goyi bayan burin Silverthorne na zama ma'aikacin jinya. A watan Maris na 1931, Silverthorne ta fara horo a matsayin nas a asibitin Radcliffe da ke Oxford, inda 'yar uwarta Olive ta riga ta yi aiki a matsayin nas. Ta ba da kai a matsayin mai jinya ga masu zanga-zangar yunwa na Lancashire da ke wucewa ta Oxford a lokacin Maris na Yunwa na Kasa, kuma tana da saurin "taimakawa kanta da bandeji da sutura" daga unguwannin Radcliffe Infirmary. A lokacinta a Oxford, an ba ta laƙabin "Red Silverthorne" don ayyukanta na gurguzu, kuma za ta zama abokiyar abokiyar Marxist Christopher Hill wanda ta sadu ta hanyar ƙungiyar gurguzu ta Oxford da aka sani da October Club.