He soon began buying and selling land in Brighton, and became a property developer in new areas fairly close by, such as Moorabbin.

In 1871 Bent was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the district of Brighton, defeating the veteran liberal George Higinbotham "to the amazement of every one".

Bent was the first Victorian premier with a strong Australian accent, and was held in contempt by the Anglo-Scottish Melbourne establishment.

[citation needed] Despite his reputation, Bent was chosen as the new Liberal leader in Victoria when Irvine quit to go into federal politics in 1904, and thus became premier at the age of 66.

By this time Bent had grown very fat and his jovial manner, together with Victoria's gradual recovery from the 1890s depression, gained him renewed popularity.

Much legislation was passed relating to improvements in public health, education, old age pensions, and water conservation.

But this antagonised Melbourne Liberals led by William Watt, and in January 1909 the various dissidents united to defeat Bent in the Assembly.

A statue of Bent, created by Margaret Baskerville and paid for by public subscription, was erected in 1913 on the Nepean Highway, Brighton.

For many years "Tommy Bent's statue" was a well-known Melbourne landmark, which, at the time of the Victorian Football League grand final, would be decorated with a cap and scarf in the colours of the team that won the premiership.

The widening of the highway in the 1970s led to the statue being moved to a less prominent location near Bay Street and its landmark status has been lost.