A persistent opponent of Irish Home Rule, Stewart was one of the minority of Conservative MPs who opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921.
[9] In January 1912, Stewart was the principal speaker at a public meeting in Flixton opposing Irish Home Rule.
[12] In February 1922, he was one of 45 MPs from Great Britain to vote against the second reading of the Irish Free State (Agreement) Bill, which gave legal effect to the treaty.
In 1913 he supported legislation against dangerous deckloads such as locomotives, which could break loose in a storm,[15] and in 1918 he successfully lobbied for the expenses of repatriating merchant seamen being released from enemy countries to be paid by public funds.
[22] He held his seat at the 1922 general election in a three-cornered contest with 51% of the votes, a majority of 4,874 (19.3%) over his Liberal opponent Stephen Roxby Dodds.
[23] However, the Wirral was no exception to the nationwide pattern of a large swing to the Liberals, and Dodds won the seat with a majority of 1,840 votes (7.2%).
[22] In Stanley Baldwin's resignation honours announced in February 1924, Stewart was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), "for colonial and imperial services".