In April 2006, Douglas was elected to the
Legislative Assembly of Queensland in a
by-election for the previously
Labor-held seat of
Gaven, representing the National Party. He was appointed Deputy Opposition Whip in August, but at the
2006 state election in September he was defeated by Labor candidate
Phil Gray, the same candidate he had defeated earlier that year. Douglas contested the
2007 federal election as the National Party candidate for
Fadden, but was defeated by the Liberal candidate
Stuart Robert. On 16 June 2011, Douglas was appointed as the first non-government chair of the Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee. On 29 November 2012, following a dispute with LNP Premier
Campbell Newman over his removal from membership of parliamentary committees, Douglas resigned from the LNP to sit as an independent. On 30 April 2013, he joined the newly created United Australia Party, and became the Queensland leader of the party (quickly renamed the
Palmer United Party) in June 2013. Douglas resigned as leader in August 2014 to protest against his lack of involvement in the preselection of candidates for the
2015 Queensland state election. At the same time, he announced he was quitting the party as well, and would once again sit as an independent. Party founder and federal leader
Clive Palmer, himself a Queenslander, countered that Douglas had been in talks to merge with
Katter's Australian Party, led by his uncle. ==References==