[1] In 1885 he sought the Liberal candidature for the East Glamorganshire constituency and had some influential supporters such as Idris Williams, Porth.
Initially, he was regarded as an outsider due to the network of supporters that the sitting member had in the county, including his influence within the Calvinistic Methodist denomination.
However, superior Liberal organization and the support of the majority of nonconformist ministers, who were widely regarded as having influenced the result through their congregations, allowed Rowlands to capture the seat from Davies by a mere nine votes.
[3] It may well be that Rowlands, a non-Welsh speaker, did not expect to succeed, and he showed relatively little enthusiasm for his parliamentary responsibilities and seldom visited the county.
[4] He was comfortably re-elected, however, in 1892, when he defeated the Liberal Unionist candidate, Morgan Jones, a Birmingham draper who had the active support of Joseph Chamberlain.