 In parliament he was chairman of the Labour Party's social security group and vice chairman of its education group, as well as serving on the Select committee on Education and Science.From 1970 to 1971 he served as a whip.Although reselected to fight Manchester Gorton at the 1983 general election, boundary changes substantially altered the constituency boundaries, with the largest part of the constituency, Denton and Audenshaw in Tameside Metropolitan Borough, merging with Reddish in Stockport Metropolitan Borough to form a new Denton and Reddish constituency.