Constituency : Forfarshire 1909-18, 1922-4
James took over at Forfarshire when John Sinclair received a peerage. He had an easy victory.
James was educated at Arbroath High School and Edinburgh University. James became a solicitor, specialising in contract law. He also had an interest in two farms. He was chairman of the Scottish Reform Club and secretary of the Scottish Liberal Association.
James was a keen supporter of land reform and played a large part in the Small Landowners ( Scotland ) Act of 1911 giving security of tenure at fair rent. He founded the Scottish Rural Workers Society, a friendly soiety.
James was appointed to the Select Committee on the Marconi affair and worked hard to limit the damage to the party .
In 1917 James served on a Board of Trade parliamentary committee on electricity supply which recommended a national grid
In 1918 James was defeated by 518 votes by the Unionist in a contest in which neither candidate received the coupon.
James regained the seat in 1922 and held on in 1923. He was defeated in 1924 due to the intervention of a Labour candidate.
In 1925 James served on a Board of Agriculture inquiry into rural unemployment.
He died in 1931 aged 74.
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