Following the decision of Sir Christopher Prout to divide his leadership role, Bill Newton-Dunn was elected to the position of Chairman of the British Section of the European People's Party (EPP) Group. Newton-Dunn held this position for little more than a year, when alongside Prout he was defeated in the 1994 European Elections. Newton-Dunn subsequently returned to the European Parliament at the 1999 European Elections. In 2000, he defected to the Liberal Democrats. He remained an MEP until 2014, when he failed to win re-election. He subsequently regained his seat in the 2019 European Elections.