Burley was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase in the 2010 general election with a majority of 3,195. Burley was a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee from 2010 to 2011. Between 12 January 2011 and 17 December 2011 he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Transport, first Philip Hammond and later Justine Greening. He is a supporter of the Free Enterprise Group. Burley was named by Conservative Home as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any significant rebellions. In 2014 Burley along with six other Conservative Party MPs voted against the Equal Pay Bill which would require all companies with more than 250 employees to declare the gap in pay between the average male and average female salaries.
On 11 December 2011 it was reported that he had attended a stag party at the French ski resort of Val Thorens which involved Nazi uniforms and salutes and a toast "to Tom for organising the stag do, and if we're perfectly honest, to the ideology and thought process of the Third Reich". Burley subsequently released a statement through the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, saying: "There was clearly inappropriate behaviour by some of the other guests and I deeply regret that this happened. I am extremely sorry for any offence that will undoubtedly have been caused." On 17 December 2011 the Prime Minister, David Cameron, sacked Burley from his role as PPS after new claims emerged linking him directly to "the offensive and foolish behaviour". On 22 December, French prosecuting authorities announced they had started a preliminary inquiry into the event. The groom was prosecuted for wearing Nazi uniform and his French lawyer said it was "deeply unfair" that Burley who had organised the uniforms had not also been prosecuted. An internal Conservative party inquiry found that Burley had "caused deep offence". Although not a racist, he had not clearly shown his disapproval of the Nazi toast and had not been present during Nazi chanting. Claiming that Burley had already admitted bringing shame on the constituency, MP Ian Austin said the report's findings should be rejected and he should be kicked out of the party. Burley announced on 5 February 2014 that he would not contest the 2015 general election.
Twitter controversy
During the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games, taking place in London, Burley denounced the content of the ceremony on the microblog Twitter as "...leftie multicultural crap. Bring back Red Arrows, Shakespeare and the Stones". He went on to suggest that it was "the most leftie opening ceremony I have ever seen – more than Beijing, the capital of a Communist state". Burley later attempted to clarify his remarks, tweeting: "Seems my tweet has been misunderstood. I was talking about the way it was handled in the show, not multiculturalism itself." Criticism both on Twitter and elsewhere followed the publication of the tweet. Fellow Conservative MP Gavin Barwell expressed indignation, writing that "us Londoners are rather proud of the diversity of our city," and noting that there was "nothing left-wing about it." On 30 July, Prime Minister David Cameron commented that "what said was completely wrong... an idiotic thing to say". Burley later commented that "parts of were overtly political, like showing peace sign| signs", and in reference to Dizzee Rascal's live performance of "Bonkers", Burley questioned why there was, in his view, a "huge, disproportionate focus on rap music when it is a small part of multiculturalism".
