In 1974, he sued the then MP Jeffrey Archer for bankruptcy after Archer failed to repay a £172,000 loan. Archer had lost the money in a fraudulent share scam. Archer later repaid the money from his earnings as a novelist and Bamford subsequently withdrew the bankruptcy notice.

Bamford expressed an interest in purchasing Jaguar Cars in August 2006, but backed out when he was told the sale would also involve Land Rover, which he did not wish to buy.

Prime Minister David Cameron recommended Bamford for a peerage in 2010. However, Bamford withdrew his name from consideration days before the members were announced.

Bamford has been outspoken on the need for the Government to champion manufacturing in the UK and commissioned a report in 2012 on the subject which was sent directly to David Cameron. He was elevated to the House of Lords in August 2013.

Bamford owns mansions in several countries (including in England Daylesford House and Wootton Lodge). Although he was linked to offshore tax havens in the Panama papers through sole ownership of Casper Ltd., his spokesman said the company was inactive for its entire existence before being dissolved in 2012. He is a distant relative of professional footballer Patrick Bamford.

On 3 October 2013 he was created a life peer taking the title Baron Bamford, of Daylesford in the County of Gloucestershire and of Wootton in the County of Staffordshire.

In June 2016, Bamford wrote a letter in support of voting to leave the European Union to his employees. JCB has donated £100,000 to the Vote Leave campaign. In 2000, JCB was fined £22m (€39.6m) by the EU for antitrust breaches.

During the 2019 United Kingdom general election campaign Bamford donated £3,935,984 to the Conservative Party.