He covered a number of roles during his Council service, particularly relating to local government finance.

[4][5] He was appointed Government Spokesperson in the House of Lords Treasury and a Whip for the Department of Trade and Industry in May 2005.

Before being awarded a peerage, Lord McKenzie had been an advisor to Labour's Shadow Treasury team and a member of the original Fabian Society Taxation Review Committee.

[1] In the June 2009 reshuffle he retained this role, in addition to becoming a minister at the Department for Communities and Local Government.

He remained in this position after the election of Ed Miliband as Labour Party leader.