He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade and Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Trade and Industry in the Heath government of 1970 to 1974, and was a strong supporter of small businesses. From 1974 to 1976 he served as a Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party. He did not serve in Margaret Thatcher's administrations, but won the admiration of 'wet' Tory colleagues. In the view of Alan Clark, he “always hated her and the values she stood for”. In his own words, Anthony Grant said he admired Thatcher but "did not hit it off with her enormously". He served on Select Committees and sponsored the Lloyd's Act 1982