 After the establishment of the Protectorate sat in the Parliaments of 1654 (for the East Riding) and 1656 (for Newcastle) and was a member of both councils of state established during Cromwell's rule.In December 1657 he was appointed to Cromwell's “House of Lords” — a "peerage" which of course did not survive the Restoration.After Oliver Cromwell's death, Strickland was a member of Richard Cromwell’s council.