He entered Parliament as a Liberal in 1853, supporting a scheme to provide working men with opportunities for education. He served as Secretary for War (1863–6), and Secretary for India (1866–68). As President of the Council (1868–73) he was responsible for the 1870 Education Bill, which his deputy, W. E. Forster carried through the House of Commons. In 1873 he became a Roman Catholic and resigned from public office. Gladstone appointed him viceroy of India (1880–84) where he introduced a system of local self-government and ended restrictions on the freedom of the vernacular press. His Ilbert Bill (1883) gave qualified Indians jurisdiction over Europeans and established trial by a jury, of which half should be Europeans. On his return to Britain he again held ministerial office in Liberal governments.