Career
He was returned to Parliament as Member of Parliament for Houghton-le-Spring in County Durham at a by-election in 1913 following the death of the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Cameron. He was defeated again at the 1918 general election, this time by the Labour candidate Robert Richardson. After his defeat, he unsuccessfully contested the Dartford by-election in 1920.
He also stood in Spennymoor at the 1922 election, Grimsby for the 1924 general election and in Houghton-le-Spring for the 1929 election but never returned to the House of Commons.