After several years in banking, Lord Salisbury was elected Member of Parliament for South Dorset (Conservative) in 1979. He remained a Member of Parliament until 1987.
Summoned to the Upper House in 1992, he became a Life Peer in November 1999. He held various posts including Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords, and Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords. He took leave of absence from the House in 2002.
Lord Salisbury is also President of the Hertfordshire Area Conservatives and of the Watford Conservative Association.