Romney was Member of Parliament for Hythe from 1798 to 1802 and from 1806 to 1807 and for Downton from 1803 to 1806. In 1809 he was commissioned as Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the Bearsted and Malling Regiment of Local Militia.London Gazette 13 May 1809, p. 680. In 1811 he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords.
