[2] In the July 2014 government reshuffle he was appointed a Lord-in-waiting and Whip in the Lords by Prime Minister David Cameron,[3] serving until the 2017 general election.

[4] In July 2016 Prime Minister Theresa May appointed him as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media & Sport.

Lord Ashton gave the definition as "an algorithm is a set of rules that precisely defines a sequence of operations".

[6] The definition was said to "[rival] dictionary entries for clarity and succinctness—wrapped up in a historical allusion that he knew his classically educated interlocutor would understand.

Descended from a cadet branch of the ancient Lancashire Assheton family, he married Emma Louise Allinson, daughter of Colin Allinson and Alison Palmer (née Bartholomew), in 1987; they have four daughters/ As he does not have any sons, the heir presumptive to the family title is his younger brother, Jack Ashton.