He was returned as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hindon the same year, serving repeatedly as Attorney General under William Pitt the Younger.

He effectively sacrificed his political career in 1784 to challenge the ballot of Charles James Fox, and was rewarded with a baronetcy; from then on he did not speak in the House of Commons, despite remaining an MP.

[7] As a second son, he had initially considered joining the clergy, but instead decided on the law and spent 5 years working as a clerk to Mr W. J. Tomkinson, an attorney.

[9] Originally happy with the idea of being a simple attorney, after the death of his older brother it was instead assumed he would become a barrister, and Kenyon joined the Middle Temple in November 1750.

[12] Kenyon instead lived off an £80 allowance from his father, and money from his richer relatives, spending the time watching Lord Mansfield conduct cases at the Court of King's Bench.

[13][1] His early business was almost entirely conveyancing, and to make extra money he began to attend the Welsh Circuit, where Tomlinson's contacts allowed him to pick up some small cases.

[14] While his work slowly began to increase, his main rise was due to his friendship with John Dunning, at the time a similarly near-unemployed barrister.

[15] Kenyon's next rise came about as a result of his introduction to the Duke of Richmond, who was struggling with Sir James Lowther for the control of several Parliamentary constituencies.

[16] In 1780 he successfully defended Lord George Gordon for high treason, assisted by Thomas Erskine, and the resulting fame was enough to propel him further up the ranks of his profession and within the political sphere.

[20] In April 1782, on the formation of the Rockingham government, Kenyon was made Attorney-General for England and Wales,[21] despite having never sat in the lower office of Solicitor-General or spoken in Parliament.

[23] On the death of Rockingham Kenyon continued in his post under the Shelburne Ministry, but left office in April 1783 when that government fell to the Fox-North Coalition.

[26] Initially intending to withdraw from Parliament, Kenyon was persuaded to remain as an MP and Attorney General to increase Pitt's majority.

[29] As a result of this controversy he stated that "legislation was a task to which he had by no means thought himself equal", and stayed silent in Parliament for the rest of his life.