Maxwell was
elected in 2007 as a councillor for the
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and helped develop
David Cameron's Big Society project. Maxwell was asked to stay on permanently by
Francis Maude in November/December, leading to Maxwell leaving his Eton position and becoming a civil servant. In April 2012, Maxwell was appointed the new deputy government chief information officer (CIO), following the departure of Bill McCluggage, and now worked under Andy Nelson. In December 2012, the remaining IT functions in the ERG were merged with the parallel
Government Digital Service. As part of this, Maxwell was appointed as the UK Government's Chief Technology Officer by
Stephen Kelly; the role of Government Chief Information Officer was not transferred. During his time in GDS, Maxwell established the
Digital 5 group of the world's five leading digitally advanced governments, reformed technology spending controls under the "Technology Code of Practice", and led the
Public Services Network, Crown Hosting Service and Digital Marketplace programmes. In 2014, he committed to staying in the role of CTO until at least 2018. In April 2016, it was announced by the Cabinet Office that Maxwell would take on the new position of National Technology Adviser to
Matt Hancock,
Minister for the Cabinet Office and
Ed Vaizey, Minister for the Digital Economy at the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport. == Post-government career ==