In 1769, as MP for Guildford, Norton became a privy councillor and chief Justice in Eyre of the forests south of the Trent, and in 1770 was elected Speaker of the House of Commons.
The king did not forget these plain words, and after the general election of 1780, the prime minister, Lord North, and his followers declined to support the re-election of the retiring Speaker, alleging that his health was not equal to the duties of the office, and he was defeated when the voting took place.
Nathaniel William Wraxall describes Norton as a bold, able and eloquent, but not a popular pleader, and as Speaker he was aggressive and indiscreet.
Mrs Norton made her own experience a plea for addressing :o the queen in 1855 an eloquent letter on the divorce laws, and her writings did much to ripen opinion for changes in the egal status of married women.
Mrs Norton's last poem was the Lady of La Garaye (1862), her last publication the half-humorous, half-heroic story of The Rose of Jericho in 1870.
Norton was a strong churchman and especially interested in education and the colonies.
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