Latham also served roughly ten months in the Federal Parliament, as a Senator for Western Australia.

Latham moved to New South Wales in Australia with his siblings in 1890 and married Marie Louisa von Allwörden on 24 June 1903 at Hay in the same state.

In his early farming days, he was unsuccessful, but was not deterred by the 1914 drought and owned 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of land in 1921 when he entered parliament.

[1] In 1916 Latham enlisted in the entirely volunteer-run First Australian Imperial Force and was promoted to the rank of Corporal in January 1917.

From 1933 onwards, Latham was the Leader of the Opposition until 1942, when he resigned to fill a vacancy in the Australian Senate but lost the 1943 election.