In 1880, Lord Kintore was the unsuccessful
Conservative candidate for
Chelsea. He succeeded to his father's titles upon his father's death in 1880, was appointed
First Government Whip in the House of Lords in 1885 and was a
Lord-in-waiting from 1885 to 1886 and from 1895 to 1905. In 1886, he was invested as a
Privy Counsellor. In 1913 he was elected a
Senior Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords. He arrived with his family in
South Australia on 11 April 1889 aboard the
Orient and was formally welcomed by the administrator, Chief Justice
Samuel Way, who later resigned as Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of South Australia in his favour.
Court, military and later life Lord Kintore acted as
Lord-in-waiting for
Queen Victoria for 1885/6 and
Edward VII 1901–05. Lord Kintore was appointed lieutenant-colonel in command of the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the
Gordon Highlanders on 17 October 1891. He also held the honorary rank of
colonel. In January 1903 he was appointed an Aide-de-Camp for Militia to the King, and received the substantive rank of colonel in the militia. He was a Knight of Grand-Cross of the
Order of the Crown of Italy of
Italy, a 1st Class of the
Order of the Red Eagle of
Prussia, a Grand-Cross of the
Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ of
Portugal and a Grand-Cross of the
Order of the Polar Star of
Sweden. Kintore was the Grand Master of the
Royal Order of Scotland from 1917 to 1925. ==Personal life==