Cates was elected in 2015 as a parish councillor for Oughtibridge Ward on Bradfield Parish Council.[7] She was re-elected in 2019 and resigned her seat in 2021.[8][9] Cates stood as a Conservative candidate for Stannington ward in the 2018 Sheffield City Council election and joined the party in the same year.[10] She received 898 votes and finished third behind the Liberal Democrats candidates.[11]