Under successive governors of differing opinions, Wentworth continued to exercise a powerful influence. By 1840 the political climate in New South Wales had changed. With the abolition of transportation and the establishment of an elected Legislative Council, the dominant issue became the campaign to break the grip of the squatter (pastoral) class over the colony's lands, and on this issue Wentworth sided with his fellow landowners against the democratic party, who wanted to break up the squatters' runs for small farmers. He was elected to the Council in 1843 for City of Sydney and soon became the leader of the conservative party, opposed to the liberals led by Charles Cowper. In 1852 he founded the University of Sydney, where his son afterwards founded bursaries in his honour.