He soon acquired a large junior practice in both civil and criminal cases, with his 'breezy personality' making him an effective advocate in front of juries.

[1] His appointment to chair a Select committee to review the operation of the Military Service Acts proved to be the turning-point in his political career.

[5] In August 1917 the committee produced a report whose main recommendation was the transfer of medical examinations of recruits from the War Office to a civilian authority.

[1] This apparently impressed Lloyd George, and would lead to the advancement of Shortt's career after several years of relative obscurity in public life.

[1] In May 1918, Lloyd George appointed him as Chief Secretary for Ireland, at a pivotal stage in the First World War and when Irish Republicanism was on the increase.

Taking to this new role with great energy and, suspicious of any alleged German intrigue to encourage sedition, he had 150 members of Sinn Féin arrested as a precaution.

[1] The government had also decided to introduce conscription in Ireland to provide more soldiers for the Western Front, linked to support for Irish home rule, but still found that opposition to the British increased.

[8] In a November 1919 meeting with representatives from the Board of Deputies of British Jews Shortt rejected their proposals for an appeal to a judge in chambers prior to the making of a deportation order, arguing that the necessity of tackling political subversives in the aftermath of the Great War depended on the government holding on to what he described as 'abnormal' powers.

[6] Shortt was in favour of denying entry to Mormon missionaries, with the Home Office believing such a policy would prove unpopular with the public.

[10] When Lloyd George's coalition government fell in October 1922 in the aftermath of the Carlton Club meeting, he realised his Cabinet career was effectively over and stood down from Parliament.

He subsequently held a number of official posts, including the chairmanship of the committees on the rating of machinery, trusts, heavy motor traffic, and the investigation into the Agricultural Marketing Act.

[14] The following year he had to contend with Island of Lost Souls by the American director Erle C. Kenton, which had already caused some controversy in the US over its alleged portrayal of cruelty to animals.

[6] Shortt was very upfront about the power of cinema to shape public opinion: In the last year of his life he founded the security firm Nightwatch Services, which would later develop into Securicor.

[18] Shortt was described by John Maynard Keynes in The Economic Consequences of the Peace as 'a capable but obstinate man too much bound to preconceived opinions', though Michael Bentley wryly notes that such qualities may have been useful in his position as President of the BBFC.

They had one son, Lieutenant William Edward Dudley Shortt, who was killed on 12 October 1917 while serving as a junior officer with the Scots Guards at the Battle of Passchendaele.