Goodwill is a member of the
Conservative Party and contested his first constituency,
Redcar, at the
1992 general election, where he finished second, 11,577 votes behind the sitting
Labour MP,
Mo Mowlam. He unsuccessfully contested
Cleveland and Richmond in the
1994 European election. He again attempted to enter the
House of Commons at the
1997 general election when he was selected for the marginally held Conservative seat of
North West Leicestershire following the deselection of the sitting MP
David Ashby. Goodwill was defeated by Labour's
David Taylor by 13,219 votes. In 1998, he contested the
Yorkshire South European Parliament
by-election, but was again defeated. He was elected as a
Member of the European Parliament at the
1999 European Parliament election for the
Yorkshire and the Humber region, serving in
Brussels and
Strasbourg until the
2004 European Parliament election. He was deputy leader of the Conservative MEPs during his term, and also opposed the Conservative Party's membership of the
European People's Party in the
European Parliament. From 1999 to 2004, he was a member of the
Committee on the Environment, Public Health, and Consumer Policy, and from 2001 to 2004 was a member of the
Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities. In September 2001, he participated in the European Parliament Observer Mission on the Presidential Election in Belarus. In 2003, Goodwill criticised the
Council of the European Union's proposal to ban smoky bacon flavoured crisps, calling it "over the top" and "disproportionate to the possible risks." During the 2004 European Parliament election campaign,
The Guardian classed Goodwill as "pro-war" as a result of his supporting a motion in the
European Parliament that said the
Iraq War was inevitable and the result of
Saddam Hussein's actions. In the
2005 general election, Goodwill stood in the constituency of
Scarborough and Whitby, winning the seat from Labour incumbent
Lawrie Quinn by 1,245 votes. He made his
maiden speech on 6 June 2005. In August 2005, Goodwill co-authored a letter to
The Spectator with five other newly elected Conservative MPs, criticising the "decadent" nature of British society. In the
2005 Conservative Party leadership election, Goodwill supported
Liam Fox's candidacy, declaring his support on 14 October 2005. After spending 18 months as a member of the
Transport Select Committee, he was appointed an Opposition
Whip by
David Cameron in 2006 and promoted to the post of Shadow Roads Minister in the Transport team in 2007. He was re-elected with an increased majority of 8,130 at the
2010 general election and appointed to the government as a Whip with responsibility for Treasury and
DEFRA business. Goodwill is secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Flag Group. In the October 2013 ministerial reshuffle, he became
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, replacing
Norman Baker. Goodwill was given responsibility for aviation policy Goodwill had previously established himself as a strong opponent of a third runway at Heathrow, inviting Greenpeace members to plant a tree in his constituency as a gesture of "solidarity" with opponents of Heathrow expansion. He was promoted to Minister of State at the Department of Transport in December 2015. In January 2016, the Labour Party unsuccessfully proposed an amendment in Parliament that would have required private landlords to make their homes "fit for human habitation.". According to Parliament's register of interests, Goodwill was one of 72 Conservative MPs who voted against the amendment who personally derived an income from renting out property. The Conservative Government had responded to the amendment that they believed homes should be fit for human habitation but did not want to pass the new law that would explicitly require it. In the
2016 European Union membership referendum, in which the UK voted to 'Leave' the EU by 52% to 48%, Goodwill supported a 'Remain' vote In the cabinet reshuffle following the 2017 general election, Goodwill was appointed as education minister (Goodwill was succeeded by policing Minister
Brandon Lewis). Goodwill was dismissed from the post of Children's Minister on 9 January 2018. Goodwill joined the Environmental Audit Select Committee on 22 January 2018 and the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee on 5 March 2018. He remained on these two committees until he rejoined the government in March 2019, when he became Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries, & Food, replacing
George Eustice who had resigned over Brexit. In the
2019 Conservative Party leadership election, Goodwill supported
Jeremy Hunt's candidacy. On 25 July 2019, he was dismissed from his role as Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries & Food by newly elected Prime Minister
Boris Johnson and replaced by George Eustice. In the
2019 general election, Goodwill was reelected with a majority of 10,270. In 2021, he considered challenging
Graham Brady for the chairmanship of the
1922 Committee but eventually withdrew from the race, backing the only opposing candidate
Heather Wheeler. In May 2022, Goodwill was elected as chairman of the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Select Committee. He is a member of
Conservative Friends of the Countryside, a right-wing group that advocates for the use of
neonicotinoid pesticides (which have been banned in the EU as they are lethal to bees), opposes the
re-introduction of wild beavers to the UK, supports the burning of
peatland (which can have adverse environmental effects) and opposes a ban on imports of endangered animals killed for
trophy hunting. He announced in April 2023 that he would retire at the
2024 general election. He left a permanent mark on England's roads in the form of the yellow plate for motor caravan parking restrictions. As MP for Scarborough and Whitby, he asked the Department for Transport to do something to make such restrictions enforceable. The sign was included in special authorisations issued to all local authorities in 2012; these remain the legal basis for the sign. In 2025, Goodwill stood as a Conservative Party candidate for the Weaponess & Ramshill ward of the newly-formed Scarborough Town Council, but was unsuccessful, coming sixth in a field of eight candidates, ahead only of two other Conservative candidates. ==Expenses==