He was promoted captain and lieutenant colonel in the 1st Foot Guards in 1716, but subsequently took up a political career, supported by the friendship of Lord Walpole and his second cousin, the Duke of Newcastle.
[3] Both were contested, but Pelham was returned in both places, choosing to sit for Newark,[1] where he and Richard Sutton, standing on the Duke of Rutland's interest, had defeated the local businessman Alexander Holden and the Tory Sir Charles Sedley, 1st Baronet.
[4] At the coronation of George II in October 1727, he was chosen as one of the barons of the Cinque Ports (representing Hastings) who would bear the canopy over the King and Queen.
[1] In 1736, Pelham took delivery of an elaborate Baroque gold cup, marked with the ostrich-feather badge of the Prince, from George Wickes; the design was reproduced by John Vardy and was widely imitated.
Pelham still felt anxious about his situation, as both the pension and his office as cofferer were liable to be terminated at a change of Government.
After consulting with Newcastle's brother Henry Pelham, he wrote in 1750 asking to convert his secret service pension to one of 21 years chargeable on the Irish revenue.
[1] A complex issue of patronage had brought Newcastle into conflict with his ally, the Earl of Hardwicke, over the results of the 1754 election at Mitchell.