Editing Oliver Cromwell (section)

== Member of Parliament: 1628–1629 and 1640–1642 ==
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{{Anchor|MP|Member of Parliament}}Cromwell became the Member of Parliament for [[Huntingdon (UK Parliament constituency)|Huntingdon]] in the Parliament of 1628–1629, as a client of the [[Sidney Montagu (MP, died 1644)|Montagu family]] of [[Hinchingbrooke House]]. He made little impression: parliamentary records show only one speech (against the [[Arminianism|Arminian]] Bishop [[Richard Neile]]), which was poorly received.{{Sfn|Morrill|1990b|pages=25–26}} After dissolving this Parliament, [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] ruled without a Parliament for the next 11 years. When Charles faced the Scottish rebellion in the [[Bishops' Wars]], lack of funds forced him to call a Parliament again in 1640. Cromwell was returned to this Parliament as member for [[Cambridge (UK Parliament constituency)|Cambridge]], but it lasted for only three weeks and became known as the [[Short Parliament]]. Cromwell moved his family from Ely to London in 1640.{{Sfn|Fraser|1973}}
A second Parliament was called later the same year and became known as the [[Long Parliament]]. Cromwell was again returned as member for Cambridge. As with the Parliament of 1628–29, it is likely that he owed his position to the patronage of others, which might explain why in the first week of the Parliament he was in charge of presenting a petition for the release of [[John Lilburne]], who had become a Puritan [[cause célèbre]] after his arrest for importing religious tracts from the Netherlands. For the Long Parliament's first two years, Cromwell was linked to the godly group of aristocrats in the [[House of Lords]] and Members of the [[House of Commons of England|House of Commons]] with whom he had established familial and religious links in the 1630s, such as the Earls of [[Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex|Essex]], [[Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick|Warwick]] and [[Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford|Bedford]], Oliver St John and [[William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele|Viscount Saye and Sele]].{{Sfn|Adamson|1990|page=57}} At this stage, the group had an agenda of reformation: the executive checked by regular parliaments, and the moderate extension of liberty of conscience. Cromwell appears to have taken a role in some of this group's political manoeuvres. In May 1641, for example, he put forward the second reading of the Annual Parliaments Bill, and he later took a role in drafting the [[Root and Branch Bill]] for the abolition of [[episcopacy]].{{Sfn|Adamson|1990|page=53}}