He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Reg Prentice, Secretary of State for Education and Science, and after Prentice left the government, Ward was PPS to Bill Rodgers, Minister of State in the Foreign Office. However, in 1979, Ward lost the marginal Peterborough seat to the Conservative Brian Mawhinney.
Ward held various roles within the government, including being a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to two different Secretaries of State.  He ultimately lost his parliamentary seat due to a change in political dynamics.