 While he was supported by the Duke of Grafton against the government candidate, Lord John Townshend, he subsequently voted with the administration.He was appointed Solicitor General on 1 September 1780, and was part of the prosecution of Lord George Gordon in 1781.He went into opposition in April 1782 with the fall of North, and briefly regained the Solicitor-Generalship in 1783 under the Fox-North Coalition.