 He fought Hornchurch at the 1970 general election, winning back a seat that the Conservative Party had lost in 1966 with a majority of 5,830.After boundary changes in 1974, he fought the more marginal seat of Upminster, winning the two elections in February and October 1974 by 1,008 and then 694 votes respectively (meanwhile, Labour regained Hornchurch).He built a larger majority in later elections, and served on several influential backbench committees in the House of Commons.