During the
February 1974 general election, Dorrell acted as a personal assistant to Conservative minister
Peter Walker. Aged only 22, he contested the safe
Labour seat of
Kingston upon Hull East at the October 1974 general election, but was heavily defeated by the sitting MP (and later
Deputy Prime Minister),
John Prescott, who was returned with a majority of 25,793 votes. At the
1979 general election, the Conservatives were returned to office under the leadership of
Margaret Thatcher. Dorrell, then 27, was elected to the
House of Commons for the marginal seat of
Loughborough, ousting the veteran Labour MP
John Cronin by 5,199 votes. He remained an MP until standing down from Parliament at the 2015 General Election. On his election he was the
Baby of the House of Commons, an informal title for the youngest member. He was succeeded as the Baby of the House on 9 April 1981 when
Bobby Sands was elected at the
April 1981 Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election; however, Sands died on 5 May 1981 whilst on
hunger strike in
Long Kesh Prison. Dorrell again became the Baby of the House until 20 August 1981, when Sands' successor
Owen Carron was elected at the
August 1981 Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election. Dorrell nonetheless remained the youngest MP to take his seat in the House of Commons until the 1983 election, when
Charles Kennedy succeeded him—Sands and Carron never took their seats, following the same rationale as
Sinn Féin with whom they were closely aligned. Following his election to
Parliament in 1979, Dorrell was a member of the
Transport Select committee. After the
1983 general election he was appointed as the
Parliamentary Private Secretary to his old boss Peter Walker, who had now become the
Secretary of State for Energy.
In government Dorrell was promoted to government after the
1987 general election by
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as an
Assistant Government Whip, and in 1988 became a Lord Commissioner to the Treasury—a 'full' whip. He was appointed as the
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the
Department of Health in by Thatcher in 1990, and continued in that role under the premiership of
John Major. After the
1992 General Election he became the
Financial Secretary to the Treasury. Dorrell was promoted to the Major
Cabinet as the
Secretary of State for National Heritage in 1994, and on appointment became a Member of the
Privy Council. He headhunted
Jennie Page for the job of
Millennium Dome Chief Executive according to
The Observer. He was transferred to become the
Secretary of State for Health in 1995, and remained in position until the end of the Conservative administration at the
1997 general election.
After government When constituency boundaries were revised for the
1997 election, he moved with his key rural voters into the new
Charnwood constituency. He won the seat comfortably with a majority of 5,900, although Loughborough was lost to
Andy Reed of Labour. He launched a bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1997, but withdrew before the first ballot when it became clear his support amongst Conservative MPs was negligible. Instead he threw his support behind
Kenneth Clarke's bid. Under
William Hague he became
shadow Secretary of State for Education and Employment, but left the shadow cabinet in 1998, and was a
backbencher for the remainder of his parliamentary career.
Chairman of Health Select Committee and views on NHS reforms In June 2010, Dorrell was elected Chairman of the
Health Select Committee. In June 2011, following concerns over the unpopularity of
Andrew Lansley's
NHS reforms, Dorrell was tipped as a possible successor but stated that he wanted to continue as the committee chairman for the full parliament. An alternate view was that David Cameron would not want any more "Tory retreads" from previous governments. Whilst the bill had good points, e.g. involving clinicians and local authorities, more independence for public health etc. savings required a change in the way care is delivered not just changes in management structure. Dorrell resigned in June 2014 and was succeeded by
Sarah Wollaston.
Expenses investigation over "secret flat rent deal" with care home owners In November 2012 Dorrell was reported to the
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) after arranging to sell his London flat to “friends” who owned a chain of nursing homes, subsequently renting it back at £1,400 a month, funded by the taxpayer. His impartiality as chairman was questioned as the Health Select Committee was investigating social care, and some of the chain's nursing homes had been criticised by the
Care Quality Commission. Committee members were not aware of the financial connection.
David Cameron refused to get involved, saying it was a matter for IPSA. IPSA said that the rules banned MPs from renting from family members, not from friends.
Standing down from Parliament In November 2014, he surprised local party members and staff by announcing his future retirement from the House to take a job with consultancy
KPMG in "a senior role supporting their health and public service practice...". The role, he said, was "incompatible with seeking re-election to the House of Commons". Fellow Leicestershire Conservative MP
Andrew Bridgen also expressed surprise, but said that the prestige of Parliament had fallen since the
expenses scandal, and a number of experienced MPs were leaving. Neighbouring Loughborough MP
Nicky Morgan described him as "a really important political figure in Leicestershire since 1979. He has been a great support to me". She denied claims she would stand in Dorrell's Charnwood seat (rather than Loughborough) at the 2015 general election, saying that these were "rumour-mongering" by members of the Labour Party. (In May 2015 she held the Loughborough seat with an increased majority.) The Labour candidate for Charnwood, Sean Kelly Walsh, paid tribute to Dorrell's long service and constituency work, as well as his roles as Secretary of State for Health and chairman of the Health Affairs Select Committee.
Resignation call over conflict of interest In December 2014, Dorrell was criticised for alleged conflict of interest when it became clear that he would be working both as an MP and KPMG consultant for six months until the election, and that KPMG were considering bidding for a £1 billion NHS contract. Pointing out that Dorrell had previously admitted the two roles were incompatible, Dr Clive Peedell, co-leader of the
National Health Action Party, called for him to resign from one of the posts. Dorrell responded saying no issues were raised as he was not seeking re-election. In January 2015, a group of six pensioners, who called at Dorrell's offices in
Thurmaston to hand in a 2,286 signature petition calling on him to resign, were told they were trespassing and the police would be called. Hanif Asmal, Chairman of Charnwood Conservative Association claimed police were called as the group didn't have an appointment. According to
The Daily Telegraph, Dorrell's extra-parliamentary work took up 1,736 hours, or 33.4 hours per week, in 2014.
The Telegraph also stated he voted in 63% of opportunities in Parliament, ranking him 517 out of 650 MPs. ==Criticisms of business practice==