 He qualified as a surgeon and set up a practice in the East End of London.Despite this, he stood in the West Mayo by-election, 1893 for the anti-Parnellite Irish National Federation and was elected, holding his seat in the 1895, 1900 and 1906 general elections.He decided not to stand in January 1910, and instead became involved with the British Labour Party, for which he stood unsuccessfully in Whitechapel and St Georges at the 1918 general election.