[1] He was elected to the first London County Council in 1889, as a Moderate Party councillor for Clapham electoral division.
[3] Corbett's opposition to Home Rule in Ireland led to him standing as a parliamentary candidate for the Irish Unionists at the 1892 and 1895 general elections, when he unsuccessfully contested East Tyrone.
Corbett contested the ensuing by-election, but was narrowly defeated by his opponent, John Blakiston-Houston.
Both candidates were members of the same party, and it was felt that Blakiston-Houston won the seat by securing the Roman Catholic vote in the constituency.
His younger brother, Archibald Cameron Corbett, was Liberal Unionist MP for Glasgow Tradeston from 1885–1911.