In 1993, Yeo was appointed Minister for the Environment and Countryside in John Major's government, but was forced to resign after a scandal involving his so-called "love child" with a Conservative councillor, Julia Stent, who was born on 8 July 1993.

[6] After the Conservatives' defeat in the 1997 general election, the party's new leader William Hague appointed Yeo as a spokesman on the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

[9] Yeo resigned from the shadow cabinet shortly after the 2005 general election, saying he wished to be free to play a role in rethinking the Conservative Party's future.

On 27 August, he ruled himself out of the ensuing party leadership election following Howard's resignation, announcing his backing for former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke.

Despite his committee releasing a report sceptical of hydraulic fracturing in the United Kingdom, Yeo revised his personal opinion and supported the use of the technique in the UK.

[10] In 2013, he stated that the government reaching an agreement over nuclear power expansion was a "matter of great urgency", and warned that Britain could run out of energy if negotiations were not concluded quickly.

[13] The Daily Telegraph suggested this should also raise questions about Kathryn Hudson's performance as Standards Commissioner, as she had previously cleared Mr Yeo of breaching the rules on lobbying ministers for financial reward and of bringing the Commons into disrepute.

[21] In June 2013 The Sunday Times released a video in which Yeo claimed to have told a representative of GB Railfreight (a subsidiary of Eurotunnel) how to act in front of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, saying he was "able to tell him in advance what to say".

[22] Yeo received £67,290 in remunerations from corporate donors for work done for AFC Energy PLC, a developer of alkaline fuel cells focused on industrial application.

From other corporate donors, he received £372,419 in other remunerations, from companies including TMO Renewables Limited, Groupe Eurotunnel SA, and Eco City Vehicles.

[23] Yeo is chairman of New Nuclear Watch Europe and chairs the University of Sheffield Industrial Advisory Board for the Energy 2050 initiative.