He briefly served as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) under Edward Heath from January to March 1974.

He notably served as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) from 1934 to 1936 in the National Government.

From 1940 to 1945 he served as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) in Winston Churchill's coalition government.

He served as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) from 1889 to 1892 in the Conservative administration of Lord Salisbury.

He served briefly under David Lloyd George as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) from January to August 1919.

Between 1896 and 1901 he served as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) in the Conservative administration of Lord Salisbury.

He was a Whig politician and served as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) from 1837 to 1841.

From 1939 to 1940 he held political office as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) in the government of Neville Chamberlain.

In 1954 he was made a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords), a post he held until 1957.

He was appointed as a Lord in Waiting (a government whip in the House of Lords) in June 1970, after the 1970 general election.