[4] In 1999, Griffiths began to work for the West Midlands constituency MEP team in the European Parliament in Brussels, before being appointed adviser on farming.

The award sparked controversy from some CAMRA campaigners due to Griffiths' opposition to other CAMRA campaigns on increasing planning controls on public houses to prevent their loss, and for opposing reform to the controversial system of "beer ties" which oblige landlords to pay higher prices to the chain owners (pubcos) for their beer supplies.

Labour MPs accused Griffiths of ageism and abusive language for shouting that Corbyn belonged in a care home.

On 12 February 2018, Griffiths received media coverage after he was interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live to promote shared parental leave and said that he would not be able to take it himself when his own baby was due to be born later that year, saying, "Unfortunately, as a minister, I'm not allowed...

[19] In March 2018, Griffiths was criticised by opposition MPs for blocking an SNP proposal for a bill that would secure the national minimum wage for those working on a "trial period" basis.

In response, Griffiths admitted he had used unpaid interns, but argued that the bill was not needed because existing law was already adequate in this area.

[22] On 14 July 2018, the Sunday Mirror reported that Griffiths had sent up to 2,000 sexually explicit texts in a three-week period to two of his female constituents.

[25][26] In November 2018, during an interview with The Sunday Times, Griffiths claimed that he had planned to kill himself after the sexual misconduct allegations came to light.

He disclosed that he had a long history of mental health problems resulting from being allegedly abused at the age of eight by a fifteen-year-old boy.

[29][30] His reinstation was widely criticised for being announced hours before a confidence vote in Conservative leader Theresa May, making Griffiths eligible to participate.

[32] In December 2021 it was revealed that a Family Court judge had ruled that Griffiths had repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted his then wife.

[33] Kate Griffiths objected, and gave evidence that her husband had subjected her to repeated physical and sexual abuse including rape.