[1] A Liberal Unionist, Storey was a Lancaster town councillor for eight years[a] and was made a county magistrate in 1898.
He was also a philanthropist, enabling extension lectures at the University of Lancaster and, in 1902, giving £10,000 to extend the Storey Institute that had initially been funded by his father.
In the same year, he gave £5,000 to the Royal Albert Asylum for the erection of what were named the Herbert Storey Industrial Schools and Workshops.
[3] Storey was appointed High Sheriff of Lancashire in March 1904, ten years after his father had held the same office.
[1] A keen sportsman as a young man — he played rugby union for Owens College, Manchester Rangers, Preston Grasshoppers and his county — Storey was a founder and president of Vale of Lune RUFC.