He was the manager of the bank's East Bay Street Branch, Nassau, until the general election of August 1992.
He had been instrumental in the reactivation of the Torchbearers, the youth wing of the Free National Movement (FNM) where he served as president for four years.
After being voted leader-elect at a FNM party convention in August 2001, he looked likely to succeed Hubert Ingraham as the next prime minister of the Bahamas.
[4] However, at the 2002 general election, Turnquest lost his constituency seat to Keod Smith, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) candidate.
Turnquest again lost his seat, this time to Arnold Forbes, the PLP candidate, in the 2012 general election held on 7 May 2012.