Hughes served one term in the 34th Canadian Parliament after which he was defeated by Grant Hill of the Reform party in the 1993 election.
Following his departure from federal politics, Hughes was appointed as board chairman for the Headwaters Health Authority, a role he filled from 1994 to 1995.
[2][3] Hughes left Alberta Health Services and ran for the Progressive Conservative nomination in Calgary-West that was held after incumbent Ron Liepert announced his retirement.
Following the Cabinet shuffle in November 2013, Hughes was asked to serve as the Minister of Municipal Affairs, resigning in April 2014 to run for party leader.
While he was expected to be a frontrunner, he dropped out prior to the opening of nominations due to lack of support and endorsed Jim Prentice.