 He led the first Tory delegation to the European Parliament in 1973, a mixed team of peers and MPs who retained their Parliamentary seats and workload on a dual mandate.Kirk's main interests were in foreign affairs and defence, being a British Parliamentary representative on the Council of Europe from 1956 - 1963 and again from 1966 - 1970.He also served on the British-American Parliamentary delegation and various committees of the Western European Union.