[1][2] Rochester began his political career when he was elected to the Saint Elizabeth Parish Council in 1969, a seat he held from 1969 to 1972.
[1] He was then elected to his first tenure in the national House of Representatives from 1972, when he won the seat, which had been held by incumbent Vivian Blake, for the PNP.
[2] He held the seat from 1972 until the 1980 general election, when the opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), led by Edward Seaga, came to power in a landslide victory.
[2] Rochester held the position of parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Labour in Parliament, overseeing worker responsibility, from 1976 to 1980.
[2] During the 1970s, Alumina Partners of Jamaica (Alpart) and the bauxite industry employed thousands of workers in Saint Elizabeth Parish.