 An active member of the Conservative Party, Hooper was the party's candidate for Liverpool in the 1979 European Parliament election.Although the seat was thought to be safe Labour, Hooper won it by 7,227 over Labour's Terry Harrison, a member of the Militant group.Comparing the election with the total votes cast in the 1979 general election five weeks previously, the swing to the Conservatives was 11% in Liverpool, as against 5% nationally.