He was the local successor to Sir Harold Wilson as a Member of Parliament, and served as a whip and a spokesman on defence issues for his party.
He managed to prevent the Militant tendency infiltrating the constituency party, explaining that "I'm known as a good Catholic who doesn't want trouble".
On 27 February 1981, Huyton Labour Party formally announced that Wilson would not seek renomination for the constituency at the next general election.
[10] Making his maiden speech on 27 June 1983, Hughes referred to the council estates that made up most of his constituency as "monotonous labyrinths, bleak, grimly regimented and dehumanising".
[11] He complained that the resources to improve the estates were being withheld and that parts of the constituency had unemployment problems even more severe than elsewhere on Merseyside.
[12] Later that year he deplored the closure of the Huntley & Palmers biscuits plant at Huyton, and pledged to raise the issue with the Government although he was sure they would refuse to intervene.
[13] Hughes quickly grew disillusioned about some of the routine work of a "voting fodder" Member of Parliament, and began suffering what he called "backbencher blues"; where once he had been able to decide housing allocations, he now felt he could do very little for the same families.
[5] His Parliamentary speeches were often enlivened by historical allusions,[1] and were often scathing of the Thatcher Government but also for good humour, which won him friends on both sides of the Commons.
[2] He also spoke forcefully on unemployment in his constituency,[1] and was interested in the politics of Ireland, where he opposed extremist nationalism partly due to his understanding of European history.
When Robert Kilroy-Silk resigned as MP for the next door constituency of Knowsley North, Hughes was chosen as the organiser for the campaign of his successor George Howarth who had been imposed on a Militant dominated CLP by the Labour Party headquarters.
[16] Re-elected in the 1987 general election with a majority nearly doubled on 1983,[17] Hughes was appointed as a member of the defence shadow ministerial team to speak on issues relating to the Army.
[15] His historical knowledge came to be very helpful and Hughes established a strong reputation for being able to spot weaknesses in Government policy; Ministers were said to have made sure they were well briefed when facing him.