After the election, he served on the House of Commons Procedures Select Committee until 2006 and served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Solicitor General Mike O'Brien until 2007. Cunningham remained O'Brien's PPS as O'Brien became a Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions from 2007 until 2008, then a Minister of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change from 2008 until 2009 and as a Minister of State at the Department of Health from 2009 until 2010. Cunningham served on the Standards and Privileges Select Committee in 2010.