In 1880, the Carlisle constituency returned Lawson to parliament with an increased majority, while the country as a whole returned a Liberal government led by Gladstone. Lawson supported the claim of the atheist Charles Bradlaugh, who sought religious freedom. In relation to Irish affairs, he supported Gladstone's introduction of the Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881, only to oppose the government after Gladstone introduced the Protection of Person and Property Act 1881, which Lawson described as "starting once more on the hopeless, miserable, never-ending attempt to settle the Irish difficulty by force." In January 1881, Lawson became a leading spokesman for the Transvaal Independence Committee, from where he denounced the belligerence before applauding the negotiated settlement to end the First Boer War. The Egyptian crisis followed.