Succeeding to his father's title in 1967, Brougham served as a deputy chairman of the Committees of the House of Lords, a deputy speaker of the House of Lords since 1995 and was vice-chairman of the Association of Conservative Peers.

He was president of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents from 1986 to 1989 (and vice-president since 1990), and was president of Safety Groups UK since it replaced the National Health and Safety Groups Council in 2005.

In 1995, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for political services.

[1] On 20 July 1963, he married Olivia Susan Gray and they had one daughter, Henrietta Louise (born 23 February 1965).

They had one son, Charles William Brougham (born 1971), who succeeded his father in the title.