Matthew Parris, then Conservative MP for
West Derbyshire, had resigned from the
House of Commons to pursue a media career and McLoughlin was chosen to contest the
1986 by-election. He held the seat, albeit very narrowly, with a 100 majority. In Parliament, McLoughlin served as the
parliamentary private secretary, initially to
Angela Rumbold (
Minister of State at the
Department for Education and Science (1987–88) and then to
David Young,
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1988–89). McLoughlin was made a
parliamentary under-secretary of state by Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher in 1989, and served in the
Department for Transport until 1992, when he was moved by Prime Minister
John Major to serve in the same position at the
Department of Employment. A year later, McLoughlin was moved to the
Department of Trade and Industry. He joined the government as
Assistant Whip in 1995, becoming a Lord Commissioner in 1996. Following the Conservative Party's defeat at the
1997 general election, he remained in the whips' office in opposition, becoming the Deputy Chief Whip in 1998. He was then promoted to Chief Whip by
David Cameron in 2005. McLoughlin has also served on many select committees. As Opposition Chief Whip, he was sworn of the
Privy Council in June 2005. Following
boundary changes, the West Derbyshire constituency was abolished at the
2010 general election, and McLoughlin was elected to the successor seat of
Derbyshire Dales, achieving exactly the same number of votes. Prime Minister
David Cameron appointed McLoughlin as the government's Chief Whip and
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury in the Conservative-
Liberal Democrat coalition government. During his tenure as Chief Whip, he was reprimanded by the Speaker
John Bercow for shouting in the House of Commons.
Transport Secretary In a government
reshuffle in September 2012, McLoughlin was appointed
Secretary of State for Transport. Soon after his appointment he had to cancel the award of the
InterCity West Coast franchise due to major technical flaws in the bidding process. As Transport Secretary, McLoughlin oversaw large-scale government investment in rail in the wake of
increasing passenger numbers in the years following rail privatisation. From 2014 to 2019, £38 billion of improvement works were planned, including
Crossrail, the
Thameslink Programme,
electrification of the Great Western Main Line and the
Northern Powerhouse scheme to boost transport links in the North of England. In 2017, construction began on
HS2, a high-speed link between major cities that will "triple the long-distance capacity to the North of England" as well as freeing up the West Coast Main Line for freight and commuter trains. In 2015, McLoughlin said "So the argument has been won. HS2 will be built, the full ‘Y’ network, from London to Birmingham and Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds. HS2 will change the transport architecture of the north. But it will also change the economic architecture." In November 2013, he made a speech praising the
impact of the privatisation of British Rail, saying that "Privatisation sparked a railway renaissance. Since 1993, passenger journeys have doubled in the UK to a level not seen since the 1920s. On a network roughly the same size as 15 years ago, today our railway is running 4,000 more services a day. And rail freight has grown by 60%. Revenue is up more than £3 billion since privatisation, almost all of it due to higher passenger numbers rather than fare rises. Safety levels are at an all time high. Punctuality is at near record levels. And passenger satisfaction is up by 10% over the past decade." However, a number of academics and journalists disputed this and subsequently argued that the evidence suggested the privatisation had largely failed, creating new inefficiencies, failing to create genuine competition and seeing steep rises in costs to passengers. In December 2015, he announced the winners of the
Northern and
TransPennine Express franchises which include new trains, services and free wifi, saying "Arriva Rail North and First TransPennine Express went far beyond our requirements with exciting, ambitious plans that will make a real difference to customers, and – coupled with our commitment to push ahead with electrifying the vital TransPennine route – will help the region realise its full economic potential, ensuring it has a modern 21st century transport system." McLoughlin's efforts to meet and pacify Cumbrian residents of
Pooley Bridge and
Soulsby following the
2015 floods were ridiculed in
The Independent when the ministerial party arrived on the wrong side of the collapsed bridge. The paper compared the event to a scene from the BBC comedy
The Thick of It. McLoughlin oversaw the beginning of the £15 billion road upgrade package to improve routes and add lanes. Following the resignation of
David Cameron as Prime Minister following the UK's
vote to leave the European Union on 23 June 2016, McLoughlin was made Conservative Party chairman by new Prime Minister
Theresa May on 14 July 2016. He was appointed
Knight Bachelor in the
2016 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, by his colleague in the Conservative Party, for political and public service.
Chairman of the Conservative Party In a 24 July 2016 interview on
The Andrew Marr Show, Patrick McLoughlin said "
Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty will be triggered before the next general election. It's very clear that Brexit means Brexit. Brexit means that we're coming out of the European Union. We want to see our own borders under our own control." McLoughlin stepped down as
Chairman of the Conservative Party on 8 January 2018, saying that he had had "a very good run" and was replaced by
Brandon Lewis. He also resigned as
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with
David Lidington being his successor. Prior to his resignation, McLoughlin had come under increasing pressure to resign from colleagues in the Conservative Party over the disappointing performance of the party in the
2017 general election and various issues with the most recent party conference.
After the Commons McLoughlin was appointed Chairman of Visit Britain. He served until 2023. In January 2022, McLoughlin was appointed as Chair of
Transport for the North. At the time of the appointment, he said: "I believe firmly in the potential of the North of England and know from my personal experience and professional career just how vital reliable, cost-effective and sustainable transport is to people and business."
Peerage McLoughlin was nominated for a life peerage in the
2019 Dissolution Honours. He was created
Baron McLoughlin, of Cannock Chase in the County of Staffordshire on 8 September 2020. Lord McLoughlin made his maiden speech on 11 November 2020, remembering his time as a whip, meeting
Lord Cormack and being a member of the cabinet in the Cameron/Clegg Years. In 2025, he was appointed chair of the
Services Committee. ==Personal life==