David Marshall Mason

Mason first contested a Parliamentary seat for the Liberals at Glasgow, Tradeston at the 1906 general election where he also stood, again unsuccessfully, in January 1910.

Like other Liberal MPs who had taken an unpopular stance over aspects of war policy, Mason was rejected by the electorate, coming fifth of the five candidates in the poll.

[10] Described as being on the Radical wing of the Liberal party especially in relation to foreign policy,[11] Mason played a leading role in condemning Italian atrocities in Tripolitania during the war between Italy and Turkey in 1911 and urging British government intervention.

[12] Attempting to rally an effective protest Mason said the Italian invasion had provoked an outburst of indignation from the friends of freedom and foes of aggression' in Britain.

This was an essentially radical organisation and critical of the direction and conduct of the foreign policy of Sir Edward Grey.

In July 1914, a dozen or so of the group, including Mason met and passed a resolution urging British neutrality in the emerging crisis.

Mason was a signatory to the letter which the group sent to Grey covering the text of the resolution and urging him to use the government's good offices to secure peace.

He kept a high political profile during the 1920s with his chairmanship of the Sound Currency Association and many letters to the Times newspaper on various aspects of the economy, trade and foreign policy .