Election

Waller was the Conservative candidate for the Labour safe seat of Rother Valley in the February and October 1974 elections, but Peter Hardy retained the seat on both occasions. Waller was originally elected as the MP for Brighouse and Spenborough, taking the seat from Labour, at the 1979 general election, until 1983, when boundary changes meant the constituency was abolished. Instead, he was elected for nearby Keighley, defeating the Labour incumbent Bob Cryer.

During his time in Parliament, Waller served as Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee.^[2] From 1992 to 1997, he served as Chairman of the House of Commons Information Committee,^[3] which oversaw the work of the House of Commons Library and parliamentary IT.

At the 1997 general election, he lost his Keighley seat to Labour's Ann Cryer, widow of Bob Cryer.

1994 revelation

In January 1994, The People newspaper published claims Waller was the father of an illegitimate son. The newspaper claimed he was the biological father of the son of Fay Stockwell, who was Sir Marcus Fox's secretary. Waller later admitted the claims were true.^[4][5][6]

Local Government

Waller was elected a District Councillor on 5 May 2011 to represent the Lower Sheering Ward on Epping Forest District Council. He was the cabinet member for the Safer, Greener and Transport portfolio and a member of many committees and panels, including the Essex Police and Crime Panel.^[1] He was President of Harlow Conservative Association,^[7] and lived near his ward. He also served on Hatfield Broad Oak parish council.