 After testing the field via a "limited canvas" in 1824, Tuite was first elected MP for at the 1826 general election, offering himself as a pro-Catholic opposed to dominant Protestant interests, and devoid of "any particular line of politics".He told electors that emancipation would restore "peace and good order" and that he wished for the county to be rescued "from the degradation of being considered a sort of family property, or hereditary borough".His election was supported by the Catholic Association and, despite accusations of widespread electoral misconduct by his supporters amid a "severe struggle", was returned to the seat.