He became MP in 1974, and served as a Tory whip from 1977 to 1981, when he became a junior minister at the Department of Trade and Industry, then moved in 1983 to MAFF.
He entered the Cabinet in 1985 as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and in 1987, he was made Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food - during the BSE crisis. He was promoted to Secretary of State for Education in 1989. Under John Major he was Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of Council from 1990 to 1992.