Following his apprenticeship, he became a manager in 1972 at a Heron petrol station for a year before joining Plessey as a telecommunications engineer in 1973, where he remained until his election to the House of Commons.

[3] Dowd first stood for parliament at the 1983 general election for the seat of Beckenham, finishing in third place behind the long-standing Conservative MP Philip Goodhart by 17,330 votes.

He was unexpectedly sacked after the 2001 general election,[5] since when he was a member of the Health Select Committee and maintained a voting record strongly in line with government policies.

He supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.

[8] On 20 January 2014, Dowd made a speech in the House of Commons during a debate on the Intellectual Property Bill, stating that he had asked for Worcester Sauce whilst eating a meal at the Hare and Billet pub in Blackheath and that he was provided with Henderson's Relish.

[14] The assistant manager of the Hare and Billet – Adam Beaston – claimed that Dowd branded Henderson's a "blatant copy" of Lea and Perrins at the time but that he warned the MP that such a view would be "blasphemy in Sheffield".