In 1900 Peel was appointed a member of the Royal Commission formed to inquire into the operation of the Port of London. In February the same year he began his political career when he was elected in a by-election to fill a vacant seat for Woolwich in the London County Council, to which he was re-elected in the ordinary election the following year. He was a member of the pro-Conservative grouping on the council that became the Municipal Reform Party. He was leader of the Party from 1908 to 1910, and chairman of the county council from 1914 to 1916.