He unsuccessfully contested St Albans in the Whig interest on 9 June 1821, but was elected and sat for that borough from 1826 to 1830. In 1831 he was returned for Banbury; in 1835 contested without success Southampton and Lewes, and sat for Leicester from 1837 until his retirement from parliamentary life in 1847, when he contested Bridgnorth unsuccessfully. He spoke in the house with great ease, and usually with much effect, but only on the Corn Laws and other questions with which he was well acquainted.
