Sir George was first elected Member of Parliament for North West Hampshire on 1st May 1997 with a majority of 11,551 votes. He was re-elected on 7th June 2001 with an increased majority (12,009 votes) but on a reduced turnout, giving him an increased share of the total votes (50.1%). In the June 2005 General Election he was returned with a further increased majority and again an increased share of the vote. Once again, at the May 2010 General Election he gained an increased share of the vote and an increased majority. (Click here for detailed results of all three elections).

First elected to Parliament in 1974, he had previously served as MP for Ealing Acton, a constituency that disappeared as a result of boundary changes in 1997, which reduced by 10 the numbers of MP's in London.

As Member for North West Hampshire, he became Shadow Leader of the House of Commons in William Hague's Shadow Cabinet, having been Shadow Defence Secretary from May 1997 until June 1998. In the June 1999 reshuffle, Sir George was given additional responsibilities as Spokesman on Constitutional Affairs. His earlier Ministerial career under Margaret Thatcher and John Major included spells at Health, Environment and Housing. He served as Financial Secretary to HM Treasury, 1994-1995 and as Secretary of State for Transport, 1995-1997. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in the June 1993 Birthday Honours.

In September 2000, Sir George resigned from the Shadow Cabinet to allow his name to go forward as a candidate for Speaker. In the new Parliament following the General Election of 2001, he was elected Chairman of the Select Committee on Standards and Privileges, a post to which he was again returned following the 2005 Election. Following the General Election in May 2010, Sir George was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal. In the September 2012 reshuffle, Sir George returned to the backbenches, from whence he was recalled in October 2012, to succeed Andrew Mitchell as Chief Whip.

Born in 1941, Sir George was educated at Eton; at Christ Church, Oxford, where he won an Open Exhibition; and at the University of Surrey where he got a postgraduate degree. He is married and has two sons and two daughters. His elder daughter, Sophia, is married with three children and lives in Cookham, next to her brother Gerry, an accountant. Gerry's wife Marianne had a baby boy in December 2003 - another George and potentially the 8th Baronet. Son Hugo is in films and lives in Shepherds Bush. He is married to Annabel and they have a son Oscar and a Daughter Isabel. Daughter Camilla has worked full-time at Westminster for her father for some years

For some family photographs see 'The Young Family'. Sir George was a Non Executive Director of McCarthy and Stone, builders of retirement flats, from April 1999 to October 2006.

His wife Aurelia is active in the constituency. Previously, she was on Lambeth Borough Council, the Inner London Education Authority and Windsor and Maidenhead District Council. She has been on the Governing Bodies of a number of schools.

Sir George and Aurelia live in the constituency at Penton Mewsey.