Early years (1997–2010)

Hayes was elected to the House of Commons for the newly created seat of South Holland and The Deepings in Lincolnshire at the 1997 general election. He secured a majority of 7,991 and has been elected with increased majorities at successive elections since, with swings to him of 4.4% in 2001, 4.3% in 2005 and 0.3% in 2010, increasing the Conservative share of the vote to 59.1%. It is now a safe seat for the Tories. He made his maiden speech on 2 July 1997.

In Parliament, Hayes served on the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Select committee for two years from 1997 and spent two years from 1998 on the education and employment committee. In 1999, he was appointed by William Hague as a vice chairman of the Conservative Party with responsibility for campaigning, and in 2000 continued on the front-bench as Shadow Schools Minister in the Department for Education and Skills. He was appointed Assistant Chief Whip Opposition Whip by Iain Duncan Smith — for whom Hayes had been a speech writer — in 2001, before entering his shadow cabinet as the shadow Agriculture & Fisheries Secretary in 2002.

In 2003, after Michael Howard became Conservative leader, Hayes was appointed as Shadow Minister for Housing & Planning. He was briefly a spokesman on transport following the 2005 general election before being moved by David Cameron later in 2005 to speak on education and skills and in particular on vocational education. He was promoted by Cameron to Shadow Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education in 2007.

Since 2010

On 13 May 2010, Hayes was appointed as Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning jointly at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Education. On 4 September 2012 he was appointed Minister of State for Energy at the Department for Energy and Climate Change. On 28 March 2013, he was removed from the DECC and replaced by Michael Fallon. Hayes became Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office. He was appointed to the Privy Council on 9 April 2013.^[3]

Hayes was appointed as Minister of State at the Department for Transport in the reshuffle on 15 July 2014^[17] with responsibility for national roads, Highways Agency reform and the Infrastructure Bill, and maritime issues. He was also the Commons spokesman on bus policy.^[16]

After the 2015 general election, Hayes was moved to the Home Office, being appointed "Minister of State, Minister for Security", with responsibility for counter-terrorism, security, serious organised crime and cyber crime, amongst other issues.^[16]

In the government formed by Theresa May in July 2016, Hayes was reshuffled back to become a Minister at the Department for Transport.^[18] He resigned from his post as Minister of State for Transport on 9 January 2018 during a cabinet reshuffle and was replaced by Jo Johnson.^[19]

In July 2022, he said of precautions for a predicted 40° heatwave:^[20]

This is not a brave new world but a cowardly new world where we live in a country where we are frightened of the heat. It is not surprising that in snowflake Britain, the snowflakes are melting.

Brexit

Hayes described Britain's withdrawal from the EU as something "I've believed in for my whole life".^[21] He stated that voting Leave would provide an opportunity to "finally bring down the curtain on the Blair era".^[22] Following the referendum, Hayes criticised the "stunned hysteria" of an "establishment elite" who had "never before failed to get their own way".^[23]

Capital punishment

Hayes is reported as having asked the UK Government to consider bringing back the death penalty: referencing Westminster Bridge attacker Khalid Masood, Hayes stated that: "If he had survived I think most of the British public would have been OK if he had received a fair trial and been put to death – most people would deem that appropriate." Additionally, Hayes states that, for murder, "I say capital punishment should be a sentence available to the courts but the death penalty should not be mandatory – that's always been my position."^[24]

Constitutional monarchy

Hayes is a strong supporter of constitutional monarchy, but has voiced his opinion that the monarchy must resist the "culture of celebrity".^[25]

Common Sense Group

Hayes is the chair of the Common Sense Group, an informal group of conservative politicians and journalists who advocate for the future direction of the Conservative Party and the UK.^[26][27]

Following an interim report on the connections between colonialism and properties now in the care of the National Trust, including links with historic slavery, Hayes was among the signatories of a letter to The Telegraph in November 2020 from the group. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke agenda'".^[28]

Economics

Hayes is a protectionist, rejecting "globalist free trade"^[29] and stating his belief that government should "redistribute advantage".^[30] He supports tariffs designed to protect "British jobs and British workers".^[29] Hayes has criticised the "gig economy" and believes that only "meaningful careers that contribute to societal good" can restore economic opportunities within the local communities they exist to serve.^[29] He has been a vocal critic of supermarkets, condemning their exploitation of farmers and suppliers and stating his belief that "supermarkets have decimated high streets, destroyed livelihoods and distorted the food chain".^[31]

Hayes is a vocal proponent of small and medium-sized businesses and has reiterated his belief that "cooperatives, mutuals and guilds that can reshape and reform our economic system".^[32] He warned that the Conservative Party "must not allow itself to sleepwalk towards becoming a mouthpiece for globalist corporate business".^[33]

Foreign policy

Hayes has consistently voted in favour of military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.^[34]

Safe standing

Hayes is in favour of safe standing at football stadiums.^[35]

LGBT issues

Hayes has consistently voted against same-sex marriage and civil partnerships. In line with his socially conservative views, he asserts marriage to be solely the lifetime union of one man and one woman.^[36]

Hayes has argued the Government should respond with "compassion" to those who "feel compelled to identify as the opposite sex"^[37] but opposed proposals to allow individuals to change their natural gender without medical consultation.^[37] He criticised "radical LGBT groups" and stated his belief that "we must reaffirm that gender has no meaning if divorced from biological facts".^[37] In an article written in a local newspaper, Hayes argued "we should celebrate the God-given differences between men and women, enjoying the special characteristics of two naturally-ordained human types".^[37]

Hayes spoke in favour of language that would block a future transgender or non-binary minister to take maternity leave in the debate on the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Act 2021, comparing inclusive language to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.^[38]

Energy policy

Following his appointment as Energy Minister on 28 March 2013 Hayes vowed to put "coal back into the coalition".^[39] During his tenure, subsidies for renewables were cut, planning rules for onshore wind were tightened, and a zero-carbon homes policy was scrapped.^[40] According to research, if his policies had not been enacted, "...energy bills would have been £9.5bn lower under the October price cap and £13bn lower in January" during the 2021–2022 global energy crisis.^[41] Since 2018 Hayes has received payments of £50,000 per year working for a Lebanese-based oil company BB Energy as a strategic adviser which has drawn criticism from Transparency International UK.^[42]

During his time as Energy Minister, Hayes clashed with Liberal Democrat coalition partners when he said that there should be no further construction of onshore wind turbines, declaring "enough is enough".^[43]