Post-war
Sandys was responsible for establishing the European Movement in Britain in 1947 and served as a member of the European Consultative Assembly in 1950 to 1951. He was elected to Parliament once again in 1950 for Streatham and, when the Conservatives regained power, he was appointed as Minister of Supply in 1951. For most of his time as Minister of Supply, his Private Secretary was Jack Charles. As Minister of Housing from 1954, he introduced the Clean Air Act and in 1955 introduced green belts. He was appointed Minister of Defence in 1957 and quickly produced the 1957 Defence White Paper that proposed a radical shift in the Royal Air Force by ending the use of fighter aircraft in favour of missile technology. Though later Ministers reversed the policy, the lost orders and cuts in research were responsible for several British aircraft manufacturers going out of business. As Minister of Defence he saw the rationalization (i.e., merger) of much of the British military aircraft and engine industry.
He divorced his first wife (Diana Churchill) in 1960 and married Marie-Claire (née Schmitt, previously married to Viscount Hudson) in 1962, the marriage lasting until his death. It has long been speculated that he may have been the 'headless man' whose identity was concealed during the (then considered) scandalous divorce trial of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll in 1963.
Sandys continued as a minister at the Commonwealth Relations Office, later combining it with the Colonies Office, until the Conservative government fell from power in 1964. In this role he was responsible for granting several colonies their independence.
He remained in the Shadow Cabinet until 1966 when he was sacked by Edward Heath. He had strongly supported Ian Smith in the dispute over Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence. He was not offered a post when the Conservatives won the 1970 general election, but instead served as Leader of the United Kingdom delegation to the Council of Europe and Western European Union until 1972 when he announced his retirement. The next year he was made a Companion of Honour.
In 1974 he retired from Parliament and was awarded a life peerage. He followed the example of George Brown and incorporated his first name in the title Baron Duncan-Sandys, of the City of Westminster. He was an active early member of the Conservative Monday Club.
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