Political career
Ward's political career started when he was elected to the Canterbury Provincial Council for the Akaroa electorate in March 1855. At the time, the number of Akaroa representatives was increased by two new seats due to population growth in the electorate, and Ward alongside William Sefton Moorhouse were returned unopposed. Ward represented Akaroa until the end of the first council in July 1857. Ward was prepared to stand again for Akaroa in the November 1857 election, but when unexpected opposition came up, he withdrew on nomination day (2 November). On the same day, the nomination meeting was held in the Lyttelton electorate, where Ward was also put forward as a candidate. With six candidates contesting four seats, the election was held the following day. Ward returned to Lyttelton at 2 pm on election day, when he was in last place—at the time, voters informed a polling officer orally of their chosen candidate and people kept a tally. After it became known that Ward had not been elected in Akaroa, voting for him picked up, but he ended up in fifth place when polling closed at 4 pm and was thus unsuccessful. Robert Waitt resigned from the provincial council's Lyttelton electorate and Ward was declared elected unopposed at the nomination meeting on 6 October 1858. With effect of 3 February 1860, he resigned from the provincial council as was required by law as he had an interest in a contract for the province. Nothing prevented him from getting re-elected, though, and Ward was returned unopposed on 20 October 1860. He remained on the provincial council until the end of the second council on 24 July 1861. In late August 1861, Ward was one of six candidates for four positions in the Lyttelton electorate of the Canterbury Provincial Council. The election was held just after Ward had joined the 1861–1862 Fox ministry on 2 August and he was at Parliament in Auckland at the time. Ward and Isaac Cookson, another incumbent who was also in Auckland as a member of the House of Representatives, both lost their provincial council seats in the election. The editor of The Press voiced surprise and regret about the Lyttelton election results: There are, however, only three cases of failure among those who desired to be re-elected, and of those only one is of any political significance—we refer to the case of Mr. Ward. And here, in passing, we cannot but express our regret that a gentleman of such eminence, and so distinguished by talent, should have been excluded from a position in which he could scarcely have failed to render some service to the Province. Indeed, the result of the Lyttelton election is altogether a puzzle. We know nothing of the three new candidates beyond that which their addresses communicate.
Ward stood in the 1855 general election for the Christchurch Country electorate. Two seats were available, and the election was contested by four candidates. John Ollivier and Ward were the unsuccessful candidates. When one of the successful candidates of that election—Dingley Brittin—resigned the following year, Ollivier and Ward contested the resulting 1856 Christchurch Country by-election. Ollivier defeated Ward by 191 votes to 120.
Ward represented the Town of Lyttelton electorate from the 1858 Town of Lyttelton by-election to 1866. Initially very shy in Parliament, he became known for taking on a great workload, which saw him rise in prominence. Due to his advocacy for postal transport via steamer, he became Postmaster-General and was in addition appointed Secretary for Crown Lands, in the 1861–1862 Fox ministry. In the 1862–1863 Domett ministry, he was Postmaster-General. He then represented the Avon electorate from 1866 to 28 January 1867, when he resigned. During 1863–1864, Ward was in England to negotiate a contract for postal services via the Panama Canal, which he concluded successfully. While there, he encountered misconceptions about New Zealand in regards to the cost of the New Zealand Wars and wrote an influential letter to Lord Lyttelton.
Following the resignation of Henry Selfe as agent for the Canterbury Provincial Council in late 1866, Ward had applied to be his successor and was appointed to the position through the provincial council's 1866 English Agent's Bill; this was the reason for resignation from Parliament. His main task in London was to sell provincial debentures.
