In parliament he was a member of the Welsh affairs select committee from 1992 until he joined the public accounts committee in 1996. He became the Parliamentary Private Secretary PPS to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Alistair Darling in 1997 and became a member of the Tony Blair government in his first reshuffle in 1998 when he was appointed as an Assistant Government Whip. He was promoted in 1999 on his appointment as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Wales Office. Following the 2001 general election he became the PPS to Prime Minister Tony Blair. He served as the Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office from the 2005 general election until 8 May 2007, when the Northern Ireland Assembly was restored after its period of suspension. He was the Minister of State at the new Ministry of Justice from 9 May 2007 until 8 June 2009. On 21 February 2007, his approval to the Privy Council was announced.