Selous was first elected to the House of Commons in 2001, and had previously contested the Sunderland North seat in 1997. He is a director and prominent member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship. In 2006, Selous was promoted to Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions. In the Coalition government, he was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, from 28 May 2010 to 16 July 2014. On 16 July 2014, he was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice with responsibility for Prisons and Probation and retained this role following the 2015 general election. However he was asked to step down from the government by Theresa May after she became Prime Minister in July 2016. He provoked ridicule by making a tweet supporting the removal of benefit entitlement from non-English speakers: "Strongly support the loss of benefits unless claimants lean English." He also attracted criticism in 2014 for reportedly telling a meeting that "disabled people work harder because they're grateful to have a job", following a furore over Lord Freud's claim that some disabled people were not worth the minimum wage. Selous subsequently argued that he had simply been trying to convey the message that disabled people were valued by employers, and his observation that disabled people often work harder was supported by a spokesperson for Disability Rights UK. Selous chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Strengthening Couple Relationships, and argues that cross-party efforts to prevent family breakdown can relieve pressure on the care system. He was opposed to the Marriage Act 2013, arguing that it was directly contrary to what Jesus said. In terms of Selous’ voting history in Parliament, he regularly voted against human rights, equality & LGBT rights, as well as against funding to guarantee jobs for young people. Selous voted in favour of reducing welfare benefits for disabled people, increasing VAT and tuition fees, and ending financial support for young people in education. In terms of environmental issues, Selous almost always voted against measures to prevent climate change. He was appointed Second Church Estates Commissioner, responsible for representing the Church Commissioners in Parliament and in the General Synod of the Church of England, on 10 January 2020.
