He stood unsuccessfully as the Labour candidate in Wolverhampton South West in the 1992 general election. He subsequently was elected to the European Parliament in the 1994 election for the Midlands West constituency, which covered Wolverhampton, Dudley and parts of Sandwell. Following the change in the electoral system for the 1999 European election, he was elected as one of several MEPs for the much larger West Midlands constituency. He stood down at the 2004 European election.

He is a former leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party.