Marland worked for Hopes Metal Windows in 1964, followed by a spell at the
London Press Exchange from 1965 to 1966. In
1970, he contested the
safe Labour seat of
Bedwellty in
Wales. At the
February and
October 1974 elections, Marland fought the
marginal seat of
West Gloucestershire, but lost. He became a
Member of Parliament on his fourth attempt, gaining the seat from Labour in
1979, at an election which saw his party return to power nationally. He was the first Conservative MP for the seat, it having been represented by Labour since the seat's creation in
1950. In
Parliament, he was joint
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the
Financial Secretary to the Treasury and the
Economic Secretary to the Treasury, from 1981 to 1983. Marland became
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1983, a role he held until 1986. From 1989 to 1997, he was Chairman of the
backbench Agricultural Committee. He served as an MP until
1997, when his seat was abolished by boundary changes; as a result he stood in the new
Forest of Dean constituency, but lost to Labour's
Diana Organ. He stood as a Conservative candidate for
South West England at the
European Parliament elections in 1999, but was last on the party list of seven candidates, and thus not elected. He was also a Member of the Board for the Conservative Party from 2002 to 2005. ==Personal life and death==