Suspected (rightly) of being a crypto-Catholic, Strickland found his career stagnating during the later years of Charles II’s reign, and spent a period ashore in England, during which he was elected MP for Aldborough. However, he received immediate advancement on the accession of James II and returned to sea, being promoted first to vice-admiral and then to Admiral of the Blue. In the summer of 1688, he took command of the Channel Fleet, but his attempt to have the mass said publicly on board his flagship caused a mutiny, and he was shortly afterwards replaced by Lord Dartmouth. Nevertheless, he retained his rank until the Revolution, after which he resigned his commission and joined the dispossessed James II in France, later accompanying him to Ireland though apparently holding no command during the unsuccessful invasion.