Rober Reid served as Liberal MP for Hereford 1880-85 and Dumfries Burghs 1886-1905. In the Liberal governments of the 1890s Reid served as Attorney General 1894 and Solicitor General 1894-95. Firmly on the radical wing of the party, Reid supported Campbell-Bannerman in his difficulties with Lord Rosebery and the Liberal Imperialists. When Campbell-Bannerman became Prime Minister he appointed Reid as Lord Chancellor and he continued to serve in that post under Asquith until ill health forced his resignation in 1912.