Cresswell had gained a reputation as a "violent Tory" but was elected as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Liverpool in the United Kingdom general election, 1837 and again in 1841 when he defeated William Ewart.
In 1856 Cresswell sat in the Swynfen will case, the case of a contested will that generated extensive satellite litigation including a claim that the plaintiff's counsel, Sir Frederic Thesiger, had been guilty of malpractice in agreeing a settlement without authority.