He was chairman of Labour Party Young Socialists in the Northern Region for 1970–71. Hughes had in 1973 been elected to Merseyside County Council, serving one term until 1977. He became chairman of Huyton Constituency Labour Party in 1974, an office which had additional significance because the local Labour MP was Harold Wilson who was then Prime Minister. In later years Hughes was able to regale friends with anecdotes about Wilson's time in the constituency. He managed to prevent the Militant tendency infiltrating the constituency party, explaining that "I'm known as a good Catholic who doesn't want trouble".