[9] Richards was elected as a Conservative councillor for Kingswinford North and Wall Heath on the Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council in 2015, and was re-elected in 2019.

In August 2020, she co-authored an article in ConservativeHome with fellow MP Alicia Kearns, which called on the government to reform the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

[18][19] Richards resigned as PPS on 5 July 2022 in protest against Prime Minister Boris Johnson's leadership over his handling of the Chris Pincher scandal.

[25] As part of this role, she criticised GB News for allowing presenter Neil Oliver to "indulge conspiracy theories" that risk spreading antisemitic tropes in February 2023.

[26] In May 2024, it was confirmed that Richards had been shortlisted to be the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Solihull West and Shirley; she later lost the selection vote, coming second to Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst.

[27] She continues to serve as Vice Chair of the International Young Democrat Union (IYDU), a global alliance of centre-right political youth organisations.