Howard was one of the twelve peers who signed a petition in August 1640, opposing Charles I's expedition into Scotland.[4] In May 1641 he was one of 10 peers selected to serve on a committee to investigate the first Army Plot.[5] He was very active in the early parts of the English Civil War. He was one of the ten Lords selected to attend the Westminster Assembly of Divines along with 20 Commoners as lay assessor, and was often employed in negotiations with Scottish officials. However, he was left off the Committee of Both Kingdoms and generally seems to play less of a role in the coming years.
After the abolition of the House of Lords in 1649, he sat in the Commons as member for Carlisle and served on the council of state. In 1651 he was expelled from parliament for corruption.[4] He sold Escrick in 1668.[6]
^Christianson, Paul (1977). "The Peers, the People, and Parliamentary Management in the First Six Months of the Long Parliament". The Journal of Modern History. 49: 598.