He was the British Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley (9 June 2001-4 June 2008), during which term he was Shadow Minister for the Arts (14 April 2004-17 November 2004) and Shadow Minister for Higher Education (6 December 2005-16 July 2007) and is the British Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (7 May 2015-present).