Mitchell served as a councillor on
St Pancras Borough Council from 1956 to 1959. He contested
St Pancras North in 1959. He was the
Member of Parliament for
Basingstoke from 1964 to 1983, and for
North West Hampshire from 1983 until he retired in 1997. In 1970, he was appointed
parliamentary private secretary to
Keith Joseph,
Secretary of State for Social Services in the
Heath ministry. Mitchell served in the
Thatcher ministry as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Industry, 1979–1981, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the
Northern Ireland Office, 1981–1983, and then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, 9 June 1983 – 9 January 1986, and Minister of State, 9 January 1986 – 25 July 1988, at the
Department of Transport. He was
knighted in 1988 upon his resignation from government. ==Family==