[3] Tyler stood again at the 1979 general election, but Hicks was re-elected with a large majority, in line with the national swing away from the Liberals and Labour to the Conservatives.

He gained the Country Life Parliamentarian of the Year Award for his persistent and effective challenging of Agriculture Ministers during the BSE Beef crisis.

As the Foot and Mouth epidemic devastated livestock areas, Party Leader Charles Kennedy appointed Tyler to co-ordinate the response, and work with farming and other organisations, to seek more effective Government action.

In 2003 he convened a cross-party group (with Ken Clarke, Robin Cook, Tony Wright and Sir George Young) to examine proposals for Lords reform and publish a draft Bill ("Reforming the House of Lords - Breaking the Deadlock") On 13 May 2005 it was announced that Tyler would be created a life peer, and on 15 June 2005 he was created Baron Tyler, of Linkinhorne, in the County of Cornwall.

He co-authored a pamphlet "Lords Reform – A Guide for MPs" with other pro-reform parliamentarians, before the Bill received a large majority at second reading in the House of Commons in July 2012.

He retired from the House of Lords in October 2021, a week before his 80th birthday, making a widely acclaimed "valedictory speech", fully assessing the constitutional challenges presented by the Johnson Government.

[8] In 2006 Lord Tyler called on Planning Minister, Yvette Cooper to honour the pledges and position of her predecessor, Keith Hill, to keep the Cornish Saint Piran's Flag flying across the Cornwall When he was MP for North Cornwall, Tyler led a successful campaign, backed by the local media, to gain reassurances from the Planning Minister that rules which prevent the St Piran's flag flying without permission could be ignored by local Councils.

In 2004, Tyler started a campaign to stop government departments and agencies making citizens access their services via high-rate “0870” phone numbers.

He exposed the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency for raking in over £1m a year in “revenue sharing” arrangements with telephone companies, where callers paid over the odds while waiting to book driving tests and sort out tax discs.

For a comprehensive analysis of current challenges to Britain's constitutional conventions see Lord Tyler's article for the Financial Times dated 16 January 2021 at ft.com/3qoFr0k.

He was managing director of the Cornwall Courier local newspaper group, 1976–81, a frequent contributor to a wide range of media, and presenter of BBC South West TV Discovery series in 1978.