 He also voted with the Conservatives later that year in the division over the decision of the Poplar Board of Guardians to exceed the amount of relief they were entitled to dispense to the deserving poor and also on the government's naval estimates.While in Parliament, Duckworth took an interest in agricultural affairs, with a particular reference to sugar-beet production and in foreign policy he was especially concerned with Anglo-Chinese relations

He was managing director of Mssrs.John Duckworth and Sons, cotton manufacturers and traders of Blackburn.