Oates began his career as an account manager at political and media relations firm Westminster Strategy. In 1994, he stood as a Liberal Democrat councillor for Grove ward in the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames. During his time as a councillor, he served as Deputy Leader, helped create a structure for giving power to local residents, and gained national exposure for proposing a conference motion on council control over the National Health Service.[4][5] Oates remained in local and national politics, serving as an election agent for Edward Davey, a winning candidate at the 1997 General Election.
Oates returned to the UK in 2001 as a policy and communications co-ordinator at the Youth Justice Board, advising chairman Lord Warner. He also became an associate at Mark Bolland & Associates, the public affairs company set up by Deputy Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales, Mark Bolland. In 2004 Oates became a director at Bell Pottinger Public Affairs. He was later appointed as director of policy and communications for the Liberal Democrats and in 2009 was given the role of director of General Election communications for the 2010 General Election.[6]
In 2010, Oates stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate for the safe Conservative seat of Coombe Hill on Kingston upon Thames Council and was rated by the Daily Telegraph in September 2010 as the fifth "most influential" Liberal Democrat.[8] He was created a life peer on 5 October 2015, taking the title Baron Oates, of Denby Grange in the County of West Yorkshire.[9]
