Erle returned home and carried up the mutiny bill on 27 February 1694. He was appointed Governor of Portsmouth in July 1694, and held the position until 1712. He was returned unopposed for Warham at the 1695 English general election. Erle was again involved in the management of the mutiny bill, he signed the Association, and voted with the Court in March 1696 to fix the price of guineas at 22 shillings. In 1696, Erle was made a Major-General. He voted for the attainder of Sir John Fenwick on 25 November 1696 and spoke against a reduction of the military establishment on 8 January 1698. At the 1698 English general election, under a sharing agreement with a Tory, George Pitt, he had his nephew returned at Warham and was himself returned unopposed as MP for Portsmouth on the government interest. Erle was a Court supporter and spoke and voted against the third reading of the disbanding bill on 18 January 1699.