[5] Taylor contested the marginal Bolton West constituency at the February 1974 general election, but lost to incumbent Conservative Robert Redmond by a majority of 603 votes.

Re-elected at the 1979 general election with a reduced majority of 600 votes, she unsuccessfully contested the new Bolton North East seat in 1983, defeated by Conservative Peter Thurnham.

When she returned to the House of Commons in 1987, Taylor became a shadow minister under Labour leader Neil Kinnock; covering education and science from 1979 to 1981 and the environment from 1981 to 1992.

In the first Blair ministry, Taylor became the first woman to serve as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Privy Council in 1997.

[9] She was made Minister for Defence Procurement on 7 November 2007, following Lord Drayson's decision to resign to compete in the American Le Mans Series; unlike her predecessor, she was paid.