Wiggin contested the Montgomeryshire constituency in the 1964 and 1966 general elections, losing to incumbent Liberal MP Emlyn Hooson on both occasions.
In 1986, when Foreign Office minister Lynda Chalker reported to the Commons on a meeting with Oliver Tambo, acting head of the ANC, Wiggin accused her of “treating with terrorists”.
Later, as a former chairman of the British Shooting Sports Council, Wiggin was prominent in the campaign against the tighter controls on guns introduced in the wake of the Dunblane school massacre in 1996.
Conversely, Wiggin held some views at odds with the traditional Conservative right—he was an early crusader for compulsory seat belts; he opposed efforts to tighten the rules on abortion; and he later supported embryonic research.
Wiggin was then a junior Armed Forces minister from 1981 to 1983 and defended the withdrawal of HMS Endurance from the South Atlantic which, according to The Times, was seen as the trigger for the 1982 Falklands War.
He campaigned for subsidies for knackermen to remove fallen farm animals, and for farmers to be exempt from moving badger setts.
[citation needed] Wiggin was criticised by Private Eye for taking frequent foreign trips, with the magazine dubbing him "Junket Jerry".