The Brownlows were Parliamentarians during the Civil War and office-holders during the Interregnum but quickly reconciled themselves to the Restoration regime. Brownlow himself apparently had some Tory sympathies under Charles II and James II and in the Convention was listed as voting to agree with the Lords that the throne was not vacant but also as voting for the disabling clause in the corporation bill of January 1690. The latter vote is usually said to be a mistake for his brother William, a definite Whig, but on Brownlow’s re-election for Grantham in 1690, he was classed first as ‘doubtful’ and finally as a Whig in the Marquess of Carmarthen’s (Sir Thomas Osborne†) list of the new Parliament. On 26 Apr. 1690 he was given leave of absence for 21 days. In April 1691 he was classed as a Country party supporter by Robert Harley*. He spoke on 8 Jan. 1692 against the bill for lessening the interest on money, and received leave of absence six days later for a month to recover his health.4