Defeated in 1893, he was subsequently member for Burke from 1894 to 1896 and Bundaberg from 1896 to 1900.[2] He left the Labor Party in 1899 over the party's socialist objective. In 1901, he was elected to the Australian Senate for Queensland,[3] unofficially as a Protectionist (though there was no protectionist organisation in Queensland at the time). In 1903, the National Liberal Union endorsed non-Labor candidates, and Glassey, as a Deakinite, did not receive endorsement. He contested the Senate as an independent protectionist and received 25.6% of the vote, but was not elected.[4]