 In 1956 he asked Parliamentary questions on the mysterious death of Lionel Crabb, who had disappeared while apparently on an intelligence mission to spy on a visiting Soviet warship.In 1958 Dugdale stood for the Shadow Cabinet, but finished bottom of the poll with only 36 votes.He kept up travelling, including a visit to Uganda in 1959, during which he opposed the government's policy of reserving seats in the Uganda Parliament for the Indian minority after independence, which he blamed for civil unrest in the colony.