Linfield had been Mayor of Worthing. He was candidate for Horncastle in 1910 and narrowly lost a by election in the same seat in 1911. He was an expert on imperial affairs and served as a member of the East Africa parliamentary commission. Unfortunately, when the 1924 general election was called he was away on commission business in Africa and lost vital campaigning time, forced to do a lot of electioneering by telegraph. He lost by 961 votes and despite being a candidate again twice never got back into parliament.