 He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Home Secretary, Sir George Cave, in 1916–17, and to the Assistant Foreign Secretary, Lord Robert Gascoyne-Cecil in 1918.He was a Charity Commissioner in 1922-23 and served in government as Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs from March 1923 to January 1924, and again from November 1924 to December 1925, when he represented the Office of Works in the House of Commons.During this latter period his PPS was Anthony Eden at the Home Office and then briefly at the Foreign Office.