Editing Alec Douglas-Home (section)

=== Election to Parliament ===
The courtesy title Lord Dunglass did not carry with it membership of the [[House of Lords]], and Dunglass was eligible to seek election to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]. Unlike many aristocratic families, the Douglas-Homes had little history of political service. Uniquely in the family the [[Cospatrick Douglas-Home, 11th Earl of Home|11th earl]], Dunglass's great-grandfather, had held government office, as [[Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs|Under-Secretary]] at the [[Foreign Office]] in [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Wellington]]'s [[First Wellington ministry|1828–1830 government]].<ref name="d2">Dutton, p. 2</ref> Dunglass's father stood, reluctantly and unsuccessfully, for Parliament before succeeding to the earldom.<ref name=d2/>

Dunglass had shown little interest in politics while at Eton or Oxford. He had not joined the [[Oxford Union]] as budding politicians usually did.<ref>Pike, p. 460</ref> However, as heir to the family estates he was doubtful about the prospect of life as a country gentleman: "I was always rather discontented with this role and felt it wasn't going to be enough."{{Sfnp|Young|1970|p=26}} His biographer David Dutton believes that Dunglass became interested in politics because of the widespread unemployment and poverty in the Scottish lowlands where his family lived.<ref>Dutton, p. 5</ref> Later in his career, when he had become prime minister, Dunglass (by then Sir Alec Douglas-Home) wrote in a memorandum: "I went into politics because I felt that it was a form of public service and that as nearly a generation of politicians had been cut down in the first war those who had anything to give in the way of leadership ought to do so".<ref name="H285">{{Harvp|Hennessy|2001|p=285}}</ref>{{Efn|In the same 1963 memorandum, Home revealed more of his individual political philosophy, writing that whereas country people get "pretty close to true values", the rootless townspeople "need constant leadership. It is, however, they who have the votes..." He added: "A large part in my decision [to become PM] was the feeling that only by simple straightforward talk to the industrial masses (sic) could we hope to defeat the Socialists".<ref name=H285/>}} His political thinking was influenced by that of [[Noel Skelton]], a member of the [[Unionist Party (Scotland)|Unionist]] party (as the [[Conservative party (UK)|Conservatives]] were called in Scotland between 1912 and 1965). Skelton advocated "a property-owning democracy", based on share-options for workers and [[industrial democracy]].<ref>Dutton, p. 6</ref> Dunglass was not persuaded by the socialist ideal of public ownership. He shared Skelton's view that "what everybody owns nobody owns".{{Sfnp|Young|1970|p=30}}

With Skelton's support Dunglass secured the Unionist candidacy at [[Coatbridge (UK Parliament constituency)|Coatbridge]] for the 1929 general election.<ref>Thorpe (1997), p. 43</ref> It was not a seat that the Unionists expected to win, and he lost to his [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] opponent with 9,210 votes to Labour's 16,879.<ref>Thorpe (1997), p. 45</ref> It was, however, valuable experience for Dunglass, who was of a gentle and uncombative disposition and not a natural orator; he began to learn how to deal with hostile audiences and get his message across.<ref>Thorpe (1997), pp. 44–45</ref> When a coalition "[[National Government (United Kingdom)|National Government]]" was formed in 1931 to deal with a financial crisis Dunglass was adopted as the pro-coalition Unionist candidate for [[Lanark (UK Parliament constituency)|Lanark]]. The electorate of the area was mixed, and the constituency was not seen as a safe seat for any party; at the 1929 election Labour had captured it from the Unionists. However, with the pro-coalition [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] party supporting him instead of fielding their own candidate, Dunglass easily beat the Labour candidate.<ref name="d7">Dutton, p. 7</ref>