His first attempt to enter Parliament was for Rochester as a Tory in 1889, but Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen defeated him. The Rochester by-election was caused by the resignation of the Conservative Francis Hughes-Hallett after a scandal. Standing again for the same constituency he was returned as an MP in the July 1892 general election he topped the poll, only to be unseated after an electoral petition in December that year. The election was declared void, and a by-election was held in 1893, with Viscount Cranborne being returned unopposed.