 He was elected Member of Parliament for Ilford North at the 1954 by-election, and served until 1974 when he was defeated by Labour's Millie Miller in the October election of that year.In 1978 he stood in the by-election, after Miller had died, as 'Conservative Independent Democrat', coming fifth.He married Lucille D'Oyen Parks, who later became a successful writer and broadcaster, in 1939.