Lord Cecil was elected to Parliament in 1853 as a member of the Conservative Party. In 1866 (now called Viscount Cranborne), he served as Secretary of State for India under Prime Minister Lord Derby. Cranborne resigned, but he would return to government in 1874, now as the Marquess of Salisbury. Salisbury was again Secretary of State for India under Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. In 1878, Salisbury became Foreign Secretary in the Disraeli government.