A serving officer challenges the Admiralty from Parliament

Beresford became a Conservative MP while still a junior naval officer and was selected to accompany the Prince of Wales to India despite Queen Victoria's objections. The tour's relaxed evening-dress rules are linked to the dinner jacket: the tails were cut from dinner coats as a concession while formal dress remained expected. Beresford's parliamentary attacks on Admiralty policy placed naval discipline and party politics in direct conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli protected him because the government valued the constituency seat rather than approving of his conduct. As a second son, Beresford's use of 'Lord' was a courtesy title rather than a peerage, so it did not bar him from the House of Commons. Electoral usefulness reinforced the social connections already sustaining his naval career.