 Collings joined the Liberal Unionist group set up by Chamberlain in 1886 as a result of the split with the Gladstonian Liberals over Ireland.Collings served in Salisbury's government as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department from 1895–1902.Although he served in Parliament from 1880 (with a small interruption) and was a junior minister in two Governments, he was most influential outside Parliament – his ministerial posts were not connected to his lifelong advocacy of free education and land reform.