He was an unsuccessful candidate for Kilmarnock Burghs in 1892, and Glasgow Bridgeton in 1895 and 1897. He was elected to and sat for Bridgeton from 1900 until 1906, when he was defeated. He then sat for Glasgow Central from March 1909 until his appointment as a judge in 1915.
In later life he lived at 22 Moray Place a huge Georgian townhouse on the Moray Estate in Edinburgh's affluent West End.[9]
He is buried in the 20th century extension to Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh with his wife Hester Bagot Banks(d.1934). The monument stands against the north wall.
He was related through marriage to Sir James Dewar (their wives were sisters).[2]
^'DICKSON, Rt Hon. Lord', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 Retrieved 18 Oct 2017