 He is stated to have reformed many abuses connected with the office, and to have put a stop to the system by which persons of rank and wealth had been accustomed to make use of the royal bounty to secure a provision for persons having private claims upon them.During the life of George II, Drummond, who was a whig and an adherent of the Duke of Newcastle, exercised considerable political power, and was an influential speaker in the House of Lords.As Archbishop of York he was sworn of the privy council "ex officio" on 7 November 1761.