 In 1617 he sat as the Member of Parliament representing Perthshire in the House of Commons and sat on the Committee for Revising Laws.He was admitted as an Ordinary Lord in the Scottish courts in the same year.In February 1626 he was elected a Senator of the College of Justice (Lord of Session) in place of Viscount Lauderdale who was forced to stand down following a ban on "noblemen" in this role.