Lord Hussain was firstly a member of the Labour Party, from 1996 to 2003, but then joined the Liberal Democrats in protest over the Labour government-backed invasion of Iraq. He was a member of Luton Borough Council from 2003 until 2011, serving as its deputy leader from 2005 to 2007. Hussain was created a life peer as Baron Hussain, of Luton in the county of Bedfordshire on 20 January 2011. In the Cameron–Clegg coalition government, he served as diversity adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.