Baxter was elected for the Ulster Unionist Party in North Antrim at the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election, and was appointed to the 1974 Executive as Head of the Department of Information Services.[2] He subsequently left politics to focus on his legal career, and is currently a member of the Law Society's Practice Advisory Service, a member of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel Northern Ireland, Deputy Coroner for North Antrim and a member of the Council of the University of Ulster.[3]
John Baxter died on 7 March 2020, at the age of 80.[4]