 Townshend was returned as Whig Member of Parliament for Winchelsea at the 1722 British general election and was appointed under-secretary of state to his father in 1724.At the 1727 British general election, he was returned for both Hastings and Cambridge University and chose to represent Cambridge.He was appointed Teller of the Exchequer in 1727 and held the post for the rest of his life.