Constituency : West Fife 1900-10, Haddingtonshire 1911-18, Berwick and Haddington 1918-22
John took over at West Fife when Augustine Birrell switched seats.
John was the son of a famous agriculturalist. His brother Harry was the Conservative MP for Buteshire. He was educated at Fettes College and Edinburgh University. He became a chartered accountant and later a stockbroker. He contested West Perthshire in 1895.
John asked parliamentary questions and sat on Royal Commissions but never made a speech in the Commons.
John had easy victories until January 1910 when William Adamson, secretary of the Fife Miners Association , stood against him for Labour. Adamson won by 703 votes in December despite the absence of a Unionist candidate,
John got back in Haddingtonshire in 1911 when Haldane was elevated to the peerage.
In 1918 John stood for the Coalition in Berwick and Haddington, defeating Labour and the Liberal Harold Tennant.
By 1922 , the Lloyd George Liberals regarded John as an indolent passenger and selected a different candidate Walter Waring although John had already received a letter of support from Balfour. John stood as an Independent Liberal prepared to support but came fourth behind Waring, Labour and an Asquith supporter.
He died in 1949 aged 89.
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