[1] Aged almost 65, he was selected as Conservative candidate for the by-election caused by the death of the sitting Liberal MP George Joseph Cooper, because Assheton Pownall, the Conservative prospective candidate for the expected general election, was out of the country.
In particular, he pressed for wholesale reform of the workhouse system, for better treatment of the deserving poor, and removal of the taint of pauper from children.
A presiding officer, Mr. Thornley, was badly injured in one of these attacks, and a Liberal agent suffered a severe burn to the neck.
The count was delayed while ballot papers were carefully examined, but it was determined that only two votes had been destroyed.
He tried to regain the seat in the December 1910 general election, but was defeated by a wider margin, and never stood for Parliament again.