Career
He was elected to the House of Commons on his first attempt, as a Coalition Conservative candidate for the Tavistock constituency at the 1918 general election, defeating his Liberal Party opponent with a majority of 13% of the votes. However, at the 1922 general election, the Liberal took the seat on a swing of over 10%. At the 1923 election, he stood in Torquay, where he lost narrowly to the Liberal candidate.