He was a Conservative Party representative, but his friendship with President Nasser and Egypt led him to sacrifice his career over the invasion of Suez.
The outbreak of the Second World War led him to volunteer for duty in the wartime Civil service, and he was drafted in to be Transport Officer for the North-Eastern Division of the Ministry of Food.
From 1940 he was Emergency Feeding Officer and Assistant Director of the Wartime Meals Division of the Ministry, and he was awarded the MBE for his work in the role.
[2] He represented the Association of Municipal Corporations on the Nurses Salaries Committee chaired by Lord Rushcliffe which published two reports in 1943[3][4] Banks received a promotion in 1943 to the War Office Civil Affairs Branch where he was chief supply officer for the Chief of Staff, Supreme Allied Command ('COSSAC').
[8] He made his maiden speech in May, in a debate on the far east and Asia; he concentrated on availability of food and speculated that if the calorie scale was lifted then the people there would be the finest defence against Communism.
[20] When Eden sent British troops to occupy the canal, Banks was appalled and on 8 November he announced to his constituents that he had renounced the Government Whip to sit as an Independent.
On 15 November the executive of Pudsey Conservative Association passed a resolution pledging support for the Prime Minister and appointed a committee to select a new candidate for the next election.
[23] In February 1957 Banks went again to Cairo, trying to intervene on behalf of a Briton employed by the Prudential Insurance Company who was on trial for espionage.
[2] However, Banks knew that the chances of an independent candidate were minimal, and that despite the withdrawal from Suez in 1957 he could not hope to re-establish his career in the Conservative Party.
In November 1957 he explained that he had sacrificed his political career in an attempt to promote understanding in the Middle East, and would stand down at the next election.