Hughes was born on 3 October 1968 in Birmingham, England. His father was a bus driver and his mother was a cleaner. He has five brothers and attended Handsworth Grammar School. Hughes studied civil engineering at the University of Glamorgan. He had previously been deputy chief executive of a local charity which provides accommodation for young people and a trustee of the Walsall Wood Allotment Charity, which helps people in financial need. Hughes served on the West Midlands Police Authority and was chairman of Walsall Housing Group until June 2018. He stood for the Pheasey ward on Walsall Council in 1998, but was unsuccessful. He was, however, elected as a councillor for the Hatherson Rushall ward on Walsall Council in 1999, gaining the seat from Labour, until 2004 when boundary changes occurred and he was elected a councillor for Streetly ward, where he continued to be re-elected until he stood down shortly after he was elected as an MP. He has held several positions on the council including the decision-making cabinet, chairman of Children's Services Scrutiny and Audit committees. He was chairman of WHG, the only MP who at the time was the chair of a housing association.
Parliamentary career
Hughes was elected the MP for Walsall North at the 2017 general election, where he unseated the sitting veteran Labour Party MP David Winnick. Winnick, aged 83 at the time, had held the seat for the previous 38 years, since the 1979 general election. Hughes introduced a Ten Minute Rule bill into the House of Commons to improve tenant safety around carbon monoxide poisoning. It received a first reading on 13 September 2017. Hughes spoke in the Commons during a debate on NHS pay in September 2017, stating that the starting salary for a newly qualified nurse was higher than that of the average constituent of Walsall North, in defending not lifting a below inflation cap of 1% on public-sector pay increases. He said it was his job to stick up for everyone, not just people in the public sector, which caused some controversy. Despite his intervention, the opposition motion to lift the cap was passed. The Conservative Government subsequently announced, in March 2018, that they would end the cap on NHS salaries. Hughes has campaigned for more front line police on the streets and raised the issue with Theresa May in the House of Commons. He is a supporter of Brexit, campaigning for a leave vote, and was one of 62 Conservative MPs who wrote to the Prime Minister urging support for her Lancaster House speech. Since being elected in June 2017 Hughes had campaigned for funding for a new A&E department at Walsall Manor Hospital, including raising the issue with the Prime Minister at PMQs. Funding of £36m was eventually allocated by the Department for Health & Social Care in December 2018. Hughes is a member of the Consolidation Bills Committee and the Women & Equalities Select Committee. Hughes was made a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the ministerial team of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in June 2018. During his time as PPS at MHLG Hughes was responsible for liaising with parliamentary colleagues in respect of revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework which was subsequently published in July 2018. He subsequently moved with Dominic Raab to the Department for Exiting the European Union. He resigned to vote against the Withdrawal Agreement on 15 January 2019. As chair of the APPG for Excellence in the Built Environment Hughes chaired the committee's inquiry into the need for a New Homes Ombudsman which was published in June 2018. In October 2018 the government announced that there will be a New Homes Ombudsman – "a watchdog that will champion homebuyers, protect their interests and hold developers to account."
Other political work
Hughes works with libertarian Conservative think tank Freer UK, with whom he released a report on blockchain technologies, advocating that the UK government appoint a Chief Blockchain Officer. The Financial Times criticised the paper at length.
Personal life
He married Clare in 2014. Hughes has a son and daughter from a previous marriage. She works for phs Direct, a commercial supplier of consumables. His brother Des was a Labour councillor. Hughes is an Aston Villa FC fan.
