[1] However, he stepped down as its editor and owner in October 1832 after his selection as a Radical candidate for the constituency of Tiverton, Devon in that year's general election.
[1][2][3] Kennedy's electoral victory in the seat was challenged by the Whigs, who petitioned that his nomination at the time had not been strictly legal, due to the property requirements.
[3] After fighting again to retain his seat at the general election in February 1835, Kennedy left Parliament in July, "Taking the Chiltern Hundreds" and retiring conveniently at a time when Viscount Palmerston found himself without a seat in Parliament and forcing a by-election which Palmerston won comfortably.
In Palmerston's Biography by K. Bourne it is reported that "The impecunious Kennedy" was paid £2000 for vacating the seat.
[4] Kennedy was then appointed (by Palmerston) as a judge to the joint British and Spanish Mixed Court of Justice in Havana[5] in post from 1837 to 1839.