Sambrook became a councillor for Birmingham City Council in 2014, winning the Kingstanding ward seat, based on the area of the same name, in a by-election. During his campaign to become a councillor, he appeared in the Birmingham Mail when two local supporters, Ben Coleman and Michael Mason, composed a song in support of his campaign.[5] He has also worked for MP James Morris.[6]
Sambrook is a member of both the Procedure and Ecclesiastical Committees.[10] According to the Financial Times, Sambrook is an "influential backbencher" and an executive secretary of the 1922 Committee.[11]
In October 2020, Sambrook, along with most other Conservative MPs, voted against a Labour Party Opposition Day Motion to extend the emergency COVID-19 pandemic provision of providing free school meals during school holidays until Easter 2021.[12] Sambrook's vote inspired grafitti reading "Gary Sambrook eats big dinners", to which he was reported by the BBC as responding "Apparently if you disagree that vouchers is the only way to solve poverty this is what happens."[13] The grafitti was noted as surreal by The Economist[14] and "the most perfect sentence ever written" by The Guardian columnist Joel Golby.[15]
In August 2021 he opposed the conversion of a residential home into a children's home for up to four children with emotional, behavioural and educational difficulties by circulating a letter stating, among various reasons, it would have a "negative impact on the area" and would "compromise the quality of the area". Sambrook said: "All children deserve a good quality home to live in. Especially children in care".[16]
In October 2021, Sambrook voted against an amendment to an Environment Bill that would have made it more difficult for water companies to dump raw sewage into rivers because Sambrook maintained it "was not fully costed and there was no plan to implement it" and "was also predicted to cost around £150 billion".[17]
In January 2022, Sambrook was named as one of the MPs plotting to oust Boris Johnson from his position as Prime Minister over Partygate.[11][18] In an email to constituents he stated "I would expect anyone who is found to have broken the law to seriously consider their position in government, and that includes the Prime Minister".[19] By February however he was no longer calling for Johnson to resign.[20][21] In July 2022, in the aftermath of the Chris Pincher scandal, Sambrook accused Johnson of blaming other people for his own mistakes and again called on him to resign.[22]
Sambrook was re-selected in March 2023 as the Conservative candidate for Birmingham Northfield at the 2024 general election.[23]
