In the 1790 general election he stood for the first time as a parliamentary candidate in the two-seat Taunton constituency, as partner to John Halliday; Ginter suggests that by then he had had some contact with the political manager William Adam of Blair Adam.
[1][4] By 1796, the situation at Taunton was changed by the withdrawal of the sitting Pittite, Alexander Popham.
Morland, standing as a Whig, was able to discourage Walter Boyd, another Pittite, from making a serious bid to replace Popham.
[1] The latter took steps in 1806 to exploit resentments in Taunton about process in the 1802 election, and Morland lost his seat to Alexander Baring, prompted by Lord Henry Petty.
[1][5] Morland was involved in the setting up at the end of 1801 of the Dundee New Bank, in which Lord Kinnard and John Baxter of Idvies were the major players.