Collins had significant political experience before his election to
Parliament. He acted as
Press secretary to the then
Prime Minister John Major, serving in that role during the successful
1992 general election campaign. He was a member of the
10 Downing Street Policy Unit and was a speechwriter to
Margaret Thatcher, John Major,
William Hague,
David Hunt,
Michael Howard,
Chris Patten,
Norman Fowler and
Brian Mawhinney. Collins was appointed a
CBE in the
Birthday Honours List in 1996, at the age of 32. The award was given 'for political services'. According to
The Almanac of British Politics, Collins was selected to fight
Westmorland and Lonsdale, then considered a safe seat for the Conservatives, at
1997 general election "partly through his family's farming background, but more by his endorsement from John Major. When elected to parliament in 1997, Collins was the second youngest Conservative MP, after
Graham Brady who was three years his junior. During his time in Parliament, Collins served as a
Whip and later as a
Senior Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party. In this role, in the run up to the
2001 election, Collins was a senior aide to the then Conservative leader William Hague. Collins supported the focus on tax cuts and opposition to the
Euro that characterised that campaign. Following the election, the new Conservative leader
Iain Duncan Smith appointed him to the
shadow cabinet as
Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office later moving him to
Shadow Secretary of State for Transport. When
Michael Howard became leader in 2003 he was appointed
Shadow Secretary of State for Education. In this post, he developed policies to give anonymity for accused teachers until a court trial, to allow successful schools to expand and to stop the closure of schools for children with Special Educational Needs. At the
2005 general election, he lost his seat to
Liberal Democrat Tim Farron, by a margin of 267 votes. It has been suggested that this was due to a Liberal Democrat "
decapitation" strategy which was aimed at unseating senior Conservative candidates. In 2006, he was reported to be part of the so-called "
A-List" of priority parliamentary candidates whom the Conservative leadership most wished to see in Parliament after the next general election, but, in April 2008, the
ConservativeHome website reported that he left the Conservative candidate list, quoting him as saying "I firmly now do not wish to return to the House of Commons". == Lobbyist ==