[1] Through his involvement in farming, Begg became an executive member of Federated Farmers and later was its junior vice-president of the meat and wool section.
Parliamentary colleague Colin Moyle stated Begg paid a price for his individualism and his lack of teamwork cost him the advancement that he could have had.
[3] Begg first stood for the New Zealand House of Representatives in 1966 in the "true blue" electorate of Wallace against cabinet minister Brian Talboys.
Despite losing he was well remembered in the electorate, particularly for winning a majority at the pooling booth in Drummond which was normally a National Party stronghold.
[3] Three years later he contested the nearby seat of Awarua for Labour but lost to National's Hugh Templeton by 906 votes.