Career
At the 1918 general election, he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Dover constituency. He was again unsuccessful at the 1922 general election, when he stood in Inverness. He held the seat at the 1924 election, and stood down from Parliament at the 1929 general election.
He was the Whip of the "Radical" Parliamentary Group, formed in opposition to the leadership of David Lloyd George.
He declared himself unable to endorse the Liberal Unemployment Pledge, and consequently withdrew in 1929 as Liberal candidate for the Western Isles. He joined the Labour Party in 1930.