 As Minister for External Affairs in 1927, he was successful in increasing the Free State's autonomy within the British Commonwealth of Nations.Cumann na nGaedheal as a government party was characterized by conservatism.Thus, when J.J. Walsh, Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, resigned in 1927 due to the government's lack of support for protectionism, he sent an open letter to Cosgrave, claiming inter alia that the party had gone ″over to the most reactionary elements of the state″.