He was elected to the
Faculty of Advocates in 1685, and was a
Commissioner to the
Parliament of Scotland for
Cullen, Banffshire from 1681 to 1682 and from 1689 to 1695. Although in the
Convention Parliament of 1689 he had spoken for
James VII, he took the oath of allegiance to
William and Mary, and after filling some minor official positions he was appointed to senior roles. Upon his royal appointment as Secretary of State in 1696 he relinquished his representation of
Cullen and continued in
parliament instead by right of his office. Findlater was
Solicitor General for Scotland from 1693,
Lord Chancellor of Scotland from 1702 to 1704 and from 1705 to 1708,
Secretary of State from 1696 to 1702 and joint secretary from 1704 to 1705. He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society in 1698. Findlater was created
Viscount Seafield in 1698 and
Earl of Seafield in 1701. He was a Commissioner for the
Union from 1702 and an active promoter of the Union from 1706. He served as first Lord Chief Baron of the
Scottish Court of Exchequer, established by the Act of Union. By 1713, his views on Union had changed and he moved for its repeal. He sat in the
House of Lords as a
Scottish representative peer from 1707 to 1710, from 1712 to 1715 and from 1722 to 1730. Findlater was admitted to the
Privy Council of Great Britain in 1707 and was appointed
Lord Chief Baron in the
Court of Exchequer in 1707. In 1711, he succeeded his father as fourth
Earl of Findlater. He served as
Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland from 1713 to 1714. == Personal life==