Worcestershire in the Convention Parliament, and knighted by Charles II at Whitehall on 6 June 1660. He was made captain in a company of the Foot Guards in February 1661. In April, he was elected to the Cavalier Parliament as MP for Knaresborough, a constituency controlled by the Slingsby family. He played an active role in co-ordinating votes in Parliament, and like his uncle, was closely associated with the Duke of Ormond. English politics was riven by factionalism, which combined with a passion for duelling often resulted in violence. Talbot took part in two famous duels involving his relatives, the first in 1666 between Thomas Belasyse and Thomas Osborne, later Lord Danby, then a supporter of the Duke of Buckingham. In January 1668, he acted for Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury in a duel with Buckingham, in which the Earl was fatally wounded. At the time, it was common for seconds to participate; Talbot was also injured, one of Buckingham's supporters killed. When the Third Anglo-Dutch War began in March 1672, Talbot was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Barbados Dragoons, which was disbanded after the Treaty of Westminster in February 1674. England re-entered the Franco-Dutch War in March 1678 after signing a defensive alliance with the Dutch Republic; Talbot was appointed colonel of a Regiment of Dragoons, but the war ended before it saw service. The 1679 Parliament was dominated by the Exclusion Crisis, over whether the Catholic James could succeed his brother as king. Talbot was MP for Chippenham; in Lord Shaftesbury's analysis of MPs, he is marked as opposing exclusion, or 'Vile'. In addition to his military offices, he is listed as receiving '£800 per year from the Wiltshire Excise, and the reversion of the Jewel Office', then held by Sir Gilbert. Described by the French ambassador as 'very Protestant, and very Royalist', he summarised the dilemma of many, who supported James' right to the throne, but opposed concessions to Catholicism in general. In 1681, Talbot was elected for Ludgershall; the return was disputed, Parliament dissolved within a week, and he never took his seat. James succeeded as monarch in February 1685, and in March, Talbot was elected for Devizes in the Loyal Parliament, so-called for the large majority who backed his right to the throne. When the Monmouth rebellion began in June, he raised a troop of horse, which was disbanded after the revolt collapsed. However, James