Lord Oates is a Liberal Democrat peer, having been elevated to the House of Lords in 2015. He has served on multiple committees and was the Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson on Energy and Climate Change between January 2020 and May 2022. He was the Chief of Staff to Nick Clegg during the Coalition government and before that the Director of Communications for the Liberal Democrats. Oates chairs the advisory committee for Webber Shandwich UK. He is also a member of the APPG for Zimbabwe.