He contested the Tyneside seat of South Shields at the 1997 general election, finishing in second place, 22,153 votes behind the sitting Labour MP, David Clark.

He made his maiden speech on 4 July 2001, in which he recalled one of his Fareham predecessors, Arthur Lee, who had donated the Prime Minister's country house, Chequers, to the nation in 1921.

After the May 2010 general election, Hoban took his shadow portfolio into Government when he was appointed Financial Secretary and City Minister in George Osborne's Treasury team.

The Work Capability Assessment for which Hoban had responsibility has been heavily criticised[6] due to its failure rate of more than 30% reversals of decisions upon appeal and because "the descriptors used to qualify for long-term support are so limited that almost nobody does so.

"[6] In July 2013, Hoban's department asked PricewaterhouseCoopers to "provide independent advice in relation to strengthening quality assurance processes across all its health and disability assessments.".

"[10] During the MPs expenses scandal newspapers reported on Hoban's £12,000 furniture bill[11] including £35 on a toilet-roll holder, £10 on a chrome shower rack and £79 on four silk cushions on his second-home allowance.