[3] He became a government member in January 1866,[4] when he was appointed Master of the Buckhounds under Lord Russell, a post he held until the administration fell in July 1866.

When Gladstone became prime minister for the third time in February 1886, Cork was appointed Master of the Horse.

He did not serve in Gladstone's fourth administration of 1892 to 1894, but when Lord Rosebery succeeded as prime minister in March 1894, Cork was once again appointed Master of the Horse.

He donated the land for the Boyle Cross in the market place of the Somerset town of Frome.

He died at Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London, in June 1904, aged 75, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, Charles.