Duddridge stood as the
Conservative candidate in
Rother Valley at the
2001 general election, coming second with 21.7% of the vote behind the incumbent
Labour MP
Kevin Barron. He was subsequently selected as the Conservatives' parliamentary candidate for
Southend East and Rochford. At the
2005 general election, Duddridge was elected as MP for Rochford and Southend East with 45.3% of the vote and a majority of 5,490. He delivered his
maiden speech in the
House of Commons on 9 June 2005. From 2005 to 2007, Duddridge has served on the
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, and the
International Development Committee from 2006 to 2008, and in January 2008, he was appointed an
Opposition Whip. At the
2010 general election, Duddridge was re-elected as MP for Rochford and Southend East with an increased vote share of 46.9% and an increased majority of 11,050. After the election, he became a
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury (Government Whip) with responsibility for the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the
Department for Education, but later left government in Prime Minister
David Cameron's September 2012 reshuffle. On 3 December 2010, Duddridge was permitted to reply on HM Government's behalf from the
Despatch Box during an Adjournment debate, a rarity as Commons Whips – particularly Government Whips – by convention do not speak in the
Chamber. Duddridge voted in favour of the
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill at both its second reading in February 2013 and its third reading in May 2013. Duddridge is seen as highly
Eurosceptic, having suggested in 2013 that the Government should tell the European Commissioner to "sod off" rather than pay benefits to Romanians and Bulgarians. On 11 August 2014, it was announced that Duddridge would return to Government as
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs following the resignation of
Mark Simmonds over his claims that he 'could not support his family in London on an MP's salary'. In September 2014, Duddridge claimed £11,348 for accommodation in London on expenses, mostly for hotels, despite already owning two homes in the city. He stated that his claims were in accordance with the Independent Parliamentary Standards authority. The previous year, it was reported that he had the highest expenses claim of local MPs in Essex. He was accused by
Ian Kennedy of pursuing a "squalid vendetta" after he helped block the former head of the Commons expenses watchdog from an appointment to a new job of electoral commissioner in January 2018. At the
2015 general election, Duddridge was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 46.4% and a decreased majority of 9,476.
Sam Walsh at the annual plenary meeting of the
Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights initiative on 17 March 2015 in LondonOn 9 February 2017, Duddridge tabled an
Early Day Motion following comments made by Commons speaker
John Bercow on the subject of the pending state visit of US President
Donald Trump. The motion proposed "that this House has no confidence in Mr Speaker", and received criticism from across the house. The bid to remove Bercow as Commons Speaker failed after just five MPs backed Duddridge's motion of no confidence. Duddridge was again re-elected at the snap
2017 general election, with an increased vote share of 48.7% and a decreased majority of 5,548. On 27 September 2017,
The Times reported that Duddridge, who had been
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa until 2016, was being paid £3,300 for eight hours' work a month as a consultant for Brand Communications on top of his MP's salary. The newspaper reported that this had led to renewed calls to review the rules surrounding jobs for former members of government. It was reported that he was working for Brand Communications and that the company was one of a handful that had not agreed to the industry's code of conduct that bans hiring sitting MPs. Duddridge told
The Times: "The work I do involves helping companies going into the African marketplace re-brand themselves. It is not a public affairs role." On 27 July 2019, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Exiting the European Union in
Boris Johnson's administration. At the
2019 general election, Duddridge was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 58.7% and an increased majority of 12,286. On 4 July 2021, he attended the funeral of
Kenneth Kaunda as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa, and incorrectly identified Kaunda as Zimbabwean rather than Zambian. On 6 July 2022, following the
mass resignation of members of the Johnson government, Duddridge was involved in an on-air argument with
Piers Morgan during an appearance on an edition of
talkTV's
Piers Morgan Uncensored when he refused to answer questions from Morgan. Duddridge had been sent out from
10 Downing Street to speak in defence of Prime Minister
Boris Johnson, but while he said he was happy to speak to the channel's political editor,
Kate McCann, he refused to take questions from Morgan, claiming his wife would divorce him if he did. This resulted in the presenter labelling him an "impertinent little twerp", with Morgan later describing the moment as his "favourite TV encounter ever". On 8 July 2022, he was appointed
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, succeeding
Michael Tomlinson. He endorsed
Liz Truss in the
July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. Duddridge was appointed a
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the
2022 Political Honours "for political and public service." In November 2023, he announced he would step down at the
2024 general election. ==Personal life==