 At the 1945 general election, Roberts was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Handsworth division of Birmingham.He stood as a Unionist, rather than as a Conservative; the Liberal Unionist tradition lingered in Birmingham long after the 1912 merger of the two parties, with memories of Joseph Chamberlain still strong.Handsworth was a safe seat for the Unionists, who had held it since 1886.