 With Pretyman's patronage and a well-received book of apologetics, Maltby was strongly favoured for eventual elevation to a bishop.However, Maltby meddled in politics prematurely.His involvement in the 1807 general election in Huntingdonshire and an 1809 pamphlet criticising what he saw as the nepotism of prime minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland saw to it that he found no favour with the Tory establishment who were to hold power until 1830.