Dalhousie was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for Liverpool in March 1880, but was forced to resign in July 1880 after succeeding his father in the earldom [REF].
In April 1886 he succeeded George Trevelyan (who had resigned over Irish Home Rule) as Secretary for Scotland in Gladstone's short-lived 1886 administration,[REF] although in contrast to Trevelyan he was not a member of the cabinet.