A royal commission into recruiting practices in 1885 coincided with a downturn in the sugar industry,[3] and as a result the company's vessels were returned to other commercial operations.

As a prominent businessman who had served several times on the local council Philp was active in bankrolling and supporting candidates in opposition to Griffith.

[2] He supported the North Queensland separatists in their unsuccessful attempts to gain independence, but spent most of his early parliamentary career preoccupied with his business affairs.

The railway construction process was alleged to be corrupt by the Labor members, and after narrowly winning a vote of confidence in November 1899 James Dickson resigned as Premier.

Discontent brewed among Ministerialists who were bitter at missing out on Cabinet positions, and in August 1903 Digby Denham crossed the floor with supporters to bring down the government and form a coalition led by Arthur Morgan.

Morgan briefly lost control of the Legislative Assembly in 1904 and Philp was called upon by Governor Sir Herbert Chermside to form a ministry, but could not secure sufficient support from among his colleagues.

Philp resumed his position as Leader and his conciliatory treatment of the government continued when fellow Scot William Kidston became Premier.

Lord Chelmsford commissioned Philp as Premier, but, unable to entice any of Kidston's supporters to his cause, he remained without a majority in the Legislative Assembly, which promptly blocked supply.

Over Kidston's protests, Lord Chelmsford guaranteed supply through the issuing of writs and then dissolved the Assembly, but Philp failed to win the subsequent election.

Philp lost his seat by a small margin in the Labor landslide of 1915 but remained active in politics, campaigning for the conscription referendums of the First World War and leading the resistance to the abolition of the Legislative Council.