Hayward first stood for Parliament, unsuccessfully, at
Carmarthen, in
October 1974, being beaten by the leader of
Plaid Cymru,
Gwynfor Evans. He was the
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Kingswood from
1983 to 1992. In January 1992 he
"talked out" the second reading of the Civil Rights (Disabled Persons) Bill, and had to apologise for misleading the House. He lost his seat in the
1992 general election to
Labour's
Roger Berry. In 1993, Hayward was the unsuccessful Conservative candidate at the
Christchurch by-election, losing the
safe seat by a swing of over 35% to the
Liberal Democrat candidate. During the campaign he was targeted by disability rights activists from the
Disabled People's Direct Action Network for previously blocking legislation that would have improved disabled people's rights. During his time in the House of Commons, he served on the Energy Select Committee (1984–85), the Conservative Party's Aviation Committee (1984–92) and as PPS at the Department for Trade & Industry, including to
Michael Howard as the then minister for corporate and consumer affairs. Hayward was also PPS to
Paul Channon, the secretary of state for transport, between 1987 and 1989, a period that saw the
Lockerbie bombing,
Clapham and
Kings Cross rail disasters and the
Kegworth air crash. In 1989, Hayward successfully predicted the number of MPs not supporting
Margaret Thatcher in the leadership election. In 1990, Hayward conducted similar analysis for the first leadership ballot and the implications of the second. Prior to the 1992 general election, Hayward correctly forecast a Conservative victory on the basis of an analysis of the opinion polls and election results in 1991 and submitted in a paper written for the party leadership, including prime minister, John Major. Although the term was not coined by Hayward, his paper gave rise to the phrase '
shy Tory'. The paper (and forecast) was referred to in
The Sunday Times on 12 April 1992.
Rugby referee Throughout his time as an MP, Hayward continued to referee rugby union, having qualified in 1980. Following his election defeat in 1992, he was promoted to national level and officiated at division 3 and 4 and county championship matches. Hayward refereed the first inter-parliamentary rugby game – between Britain and France in 1991.
Gulf War hostages Hayward was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to friends and families of hostages prior to the Gulf War in 1991
Iraq War, when he established and ran, with others, the Gulf Support Group for civilians who were held after the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. This service ran initially from Hayward's home, then from offices in London. ==After Parliament==