Harrington was a long-time member of the Conservative Party since 1983. Until March 2010, he was chairman of the executive board of the
Conservative Friends of Israel, which, during his tenure, had quadrupled in size financially. Harrington won the
Watford seat from
Claire Ward at the
2010 general election with a majority of 1,425 votes. He was the first of the new MPs elected at the 2010 general election to make his
maiden speech in the Commons. Since his election to Parliament, Harrington has also been elected as General Secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Kashmir Group (until 2015), Vice Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Film Industry Group, and a member of the
International Development Select Committee between July 2010 - November 2012. He has run a number of successful community projects in Watford including six jobs fairs and a Community Exchange. His main areas of interest are cutting local unemployment, supporting business in the constituency and progressing the significant infrastructure projects in Watford including the redeveloping Watford Junction and the Watford Health Campus. In September 2012, Harrington was appointed as a Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party. In the 2012-13 Parliamentary Session, Harrington successfully brought in a Private Members Bill to criminalise the unlawful subletting of social housing property. In May 2015, Harrington was re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Watford, with a majority of 9,794 votes, increasing the Conservative share of the vote by 8.5%. A month later, in June 2015, Harrington was appointed as the Prime Minister's apprenticeships adviser. Harrington was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the
Department for Work and Pensions in Theresa May's first Cabinet reshuffle on 17 July 2016, with his former position left vacant and effectively abolished. At the
2017 snap general election, Harrington was re-elected with a reduced majority of 2,092 votes. Harrington was moved to the
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the subsequent Cabinet reshuffle. Having helped secure Government funding for the
Croxley Rail Link Harrington expressed frustration with Labour's
Sadiq Khan, the
Mayor of London, for not progressing the project in February 2018; despite Harrington securing an extra £73,000,000 of government funding. In response Labour representatives argued that central government funding should have been provided for a project located outside of London and that "a more balanced approach, seeking the
Department for Transport and
TfL to work closely together is what is needed". In early-2019, Harrington warned of the risks of a
no-deal Brexit. On 25 March 2019, he resigned from the government to vote for
Oliver Letwin's amendment. On 29 August 2019, Harrington announced via Twitter that he would not stand for re-election in the next general election.
Ministerial career September 2015-July 2016: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for
Department for International Development jointly with
Home Office and
Department for Communities and Local Government Harrington was appointed by
David Cameron as the Minister responsible for the Syrian Refugee programme, and was the first ever government minister in three departments at the same time (Home Office, Communities and International development, where he implemented his ideas for cross government working. The programme led to the successful resettlement of 20,000 people. In March 2022, having stood down from parliament in 2019, Harrington was appointed by the Prime Minister to the post of Minister of State for refugees from Ukraine, as a joint minister across the
Home Office and
Department for Levelling Up. His Homes for Ukraine Scheme led to the settlement of more than 150,000 refugees in the UK.
July 2016-June 2017: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,
Department for Work and Pensions In July 2016 to June 2017, Harrington became Pensions Minister at the
Department for Work and Pensions, with a brief to develop and implement the auto enrolment system for workplace pensions, which will transform the retirement of the vast amount of the working population in the future.
June 2017-March 2019: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy In June 2017, Harrington became a minister at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. For a year he was Energy Minister, where he developed an interest in nuclear and renewable technologies. In 2018 he became Business and Industry Minister in the same department and covered a wide range of business sectors, such as life sciences, automotives, aerospace, professional services and creative industries. His role was to develop partnerships between government and the private sector- the life sciences sector deal was the first and several followed like creative industries, aerospace, automotive and others, all of which have led to significant investment from government and private industry alike.
The Harrington Review of Foreign Direct Investment In March 2023, the Chancellor, Rt Hon
Jeremy Hunt, asked Harrington to chair a review into Foreign Direct Investment. In the course of this, he and his team from two government departments, interviewed more than 200 companies, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and trade bodies. This led to its publication in November 2023 with a series of recommendations reorganising the government in a cross department, investment friendly way. It was accepted by the Chancellor at the Autumn Statement and was accepted by Rt Hon
Jonathan Reynolds, the Shadow Secretary of State for Business. It was launched at Bloomberg to an audience of 150 business people. It is currently being implemented across government.
House of Lords Harrington was appointed by the Prime Minister to the post of Minister of State for Refugees on 8 March 2022, working across both the
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the
Home Office, as part of the Response to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. He was made a
life peer with the name, style and title of
Baron Harrington of Watford,
of Watford in the County of Hertfordshire, on 15 March 2022. He was introduced to the
House of Lords on the same day. Initially sitting as a Conservative peer, he has been a
non-affiliated peer since 18 August 2024. He obtained a grant of arms from the
Garter King of Arms,
David Vines White, on 14 April 2023. ==Personal life==