Worsley was a Councillor on
Malton Rural District Council from 1955, serving as vice-chairman in 1965. He was an unsuccessful candidate at the
1955 election for the marginal constituency of
Keighley in
West Yorkshire. However, at the
1959 election he defeated the sitting
Labour Member of Parliament (MP)
Charles Hobson, taking the seat with a majority of only 170. At the
1964 general election, he lost his Keighley seat to Labour's
John Binns, but for the
1966 election he was selected as candidate for the safe
Conservative seat of
Chelsea in west
London. He held that seat for three Parliaments, before retiring at the
October 1974 general election. In 1973, when he inherited the title and estate, he moved back into Hovingham Hall and managed the estate. In 1982 he was appointed
High Sheriff of North Yorkshire. In 1978 he was appointed a
Deputy Lieutenant for North Yorkshire, serving as
Lord Lieutenant from 1987 to 1999. He also served the county as
High Sheriff from 1982 to 1983. Worsley was active in the National Trust becoming Chairman of the Yorkshire Regional Committee between 1969 and 1994 and for a time Chair of the Trust's Properties Committee, overseeing approval of the acquisition of many significant property acquisitions including Canons Ashby (1981), Belton House (1984), Calke Abbey (1985) and Keddleston Hall (1987). He served as Deputy Chairman of the Trust between 1986 and 1992. ==Marriage and children==