He is the son of Henry Brooke, a former Secretary of State for Home Affairs. He was elected as Tory MP for the City of London and Westminster in 1977. He was made Chairman of the Conservative Party in 1987, and was made Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in 1989. He remained in this position until 1992, one of the few ministers to retain the position they had held under Margaret Thatcher under the new leadership of John Major.
After 1992 he stoof down and became a backbench MP, but later that year became Secretary of State for National Heritage until 1993. He stepped down as an MP at the 2001 general elections.