At the
1970 general election, Cormack stood for the seat of
Cannock, and this time was elected, narrowly defeating the incumbent Labour MP
Jennie Lee. Cormack won with a majority of 1,529. From 1970 to 1973, Cormack served as a
Parliamentary Private Secretary at the
Department of Health and Social Security. He moved constituencies at the
February 1974 general election, leaving the marginal seat of Cannock and instead contesting the adjacent newly drawn seat of
South West Staffordshire, which he won comfortably with a majority of 9,758. Cormack became chairman of the editorial board of
The House magazine in 1976, and editor of the magazine in 1979. Cormack was a member of the
Education Select Committee for the duration of the 1979–83 Parliament. An opponent to Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher's
monetarist economic policies, in November 1981, with national unemployment approaching 3,000,000 (compared to 1,500,000 two years previously), Cormack urged Thatcher to change her government's policies if Britain was to avoid economic disaster. In the
1983 general election, Cormack was elected to the renamed seat of
South Staffordshire, covering a similar area to the former South West Staffordshire seat. In 1997, after 27 years as an MP on the
backbenches, he was promoted by the then
Leader of the Opposition,
William Hague, to become the
Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons. Cormack resigned from this position in early 2000, standing later that year for the position of
Speaker of the House of Commons (following the retirement of
Betty Boothroyd). However, he was unsuccessful in his bid for the speakership, with the House instead choosing Labour MP
Michael Martin for the role. Cormack became life president of
The House magazine in 2005. In July 2007, the South Staffordshire Conservatives' executive council voted on the matter, but it resulted in a tie. Consequently, a vote of all local party members was held to decide whether Cormack should remain the party's candidate at the following general election. In the vote, held on 14 September, Cormack was readopted as the Conservative candidate, receiving the backing of over 75% of participating party members. Cormack expressed his gratitude and called the victory a "great relief". Subsequently, on 1 December 2009, Cormack announced his intention to stand down at the
2010 general election. Although having a reputation as a serious parliamentarian, on occasions he was known for asking light hearted questions in the House of Commons, once simply asking Prime Minister
Gordon Brown at
Prime Minister's Questions what he wanted for
Christmas. Cormack was created a
life peer on 18 December 2010, as
Baron Cormack,
of Enville in the County of Staffordshire. He sat on the Conservative benches in the
House of Lords. Cormack opposed the
Coalition's
plans to reform the House of Lords, speaking out against them numerous times in the chamber. Cormack was seen as a
One Nation Tory. He was a
Heathite, and was a frequent rebel under
Margaret Thatcher – one of the so-called "
wets". ==Other interests==