He was first elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and re-elected for his fourth term in 2014. He was Vice-President of the Human Rights Subcommittee of the Parliament 2004–07 and Vice-President of the EU-Ukraine PCC delegation 2004–09. He was Vice-President of the EP Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly 2009–14, and was the UK Conservative Foreign Affairs Spokesman 2002–2019, and ECR Co-ordinator (Spokesman) 2009–2019 on the Foreign Affairs Committee. He was President of the Friends of Taiwan Group 2004-9 and was adviser to the UK Overseas Territories Association in the European Parliament, and was Vice-Chairman of European Friends of Israel 2006–11. He was President of the European Parliament Friends of Kurdistan 2014–2019. He was appointed a Commissioner for Human Rights of the British Conservative Party in 2011 and reappointed in 2015.