Hodgson ran as a Conservative in both the
February and
October 1974 general elections, in which he unsuccessfully contested the strongly
Labour seat of
Walsall North. However, in a
1976 by-election caused by incumbent
John Stonehouse's imprisonment, Hodgson managed to overturn the large Labour majority to become the seat's
Member of Parliament. However, at the
1979 general election, Hodgson could not hold the seat against the Labour candidate,
David Winnick, despite achieving an 11% swing for the Conservatives. The seat was then held by Labour until
2017, when it was won back by the Conservatives'
Eddie Hughes. In 1981, he was selected as the candidate for the safe Conservative seat of
Stratford-upon-Avon, but resigned his candidature in 1982 for undisclosed personal reasons, and never returned to the Commons. He was awarded a
CBE in the 1992
New Year's Honours. Hodgson served as Chairman of the National Union of Conservative Associations from 1996 until 1998, and as Chairman of the National Conservative Convention from 1998 until 2000. He was created a life peer, as
Baron Hodgson of Astley Abbotts,
of Nash in the County of Shropshire, on 7 June 2000. In November 2011, Hodgson was appointed by
David Cameron's government to perform a wholesale review of the
Charities Act 2006 and
Charities Act 2011, which was published in 2012. He is an ambassador for the volunteering network, REACH. In May 2021 Hodgson co-authored an essay entitled "Population Growth, Immigration, and 'the Levelling Up' Agenda" with
Lord Horam, for inclusion in
Common Sense: Conservative Thinking for a Post-Liberal Age published by the
Common Sense Group, an informal group of Conservative MPs. == Business career ==