The eldest surviving son of Thomas Emmott, of Brookfield, Oldham, he was educated at Grove House, Tottenham, and at the University of London.

[1] Emmott served as Chairman of Ways and Means (Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons) from 1906 to 1911[citation needed] and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1908.

[2] In October 1911 he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies by H. H. Asquith[citation needed] and the following month he was raised to the peerage as Baron Emmott, of Oldham in the County Palatine of Lancaster.

[4] This was arguably reflected in 1910 when Emmott, in response to Conservative critics who attacked the Liberals as "socialistic", retorted that "so far as we have gone in the direction of Socialism, so-called, whether it be in regard to free and compulsory education, whether it be in regard to old age pensions, or in respect of any other reform, we have not diminished, but rather added to the liberty of the individual.

In February 1926, aged 67, Lord Emmott died very suddenly,[citation needed] from angina pectoris, at his home in London, on a day when he was engaged to speak at a Liberal Party rally.