[2] In April 1735 he was elected member of parliament for Cirencester, and was rewarded for his opposition to the government by being made solicitor-general in 1745 and, then attorney-general to Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1748.

Resigning his seat in parliament in April 1754 he was made a judge and bencher of the Court of Common Pleas in the following month.

In 1777 after the American Frigates had defeated once or twice, Bathurst worried that Great Britain might lose her control of the coastline urged peace preliminaries in order to save the colonies in the West Indies.

But Lord Bathurst sold the house to the south of Hyde Park, also known as no.1 London removing his estates to the country as befitted a fox-hunting Tory.

Lord Bathurst used the proceeds to invest in more acreage at Cirencester Park which was planted with trees for landscaping and hunting.

Lord Bathurst developed the Sapperton tunnel the following year for a new canal dug to connect the Severn with the Thames.

During the reign, hundreds of local acts of Parliament authorised the construction of roads, bridges, tunnels, and infrastructures.

He died at Oakley Grove near Cirencester on 6 August 1794,[2] aged 80, and was succeeded in the earldom by his son from his second marriage, Henry.