 He became active in municipal and county politics, and in the 1841 general election was elected Tory MP for the West Riding.Having expected an unopposed return in 1847, he withdrew when the Liberals nominated Richard Cobden, but was returned at a by-election in 1848 and sat until 1859.He was close to Sir Robert Peel (he supplied Peel with the horse that threw and fatally injured him); although he voted against the repeal of the corn laws in 1846, by 1848 he opposed a return to protection and by 1857 described himself in Dod as a Liberal.