Ibuki entered politics in 1983 at former Finance Minister
Michio Watanabe's behest. He is a member of the
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and has served in a variety of government positions, including
Minister of Labour (1997~98) and
National Public Safety Commission chairman (2000~01). in 2013 He was appointed Minister of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on 26 September 2006 as a part of Prime Minister
Shinzō Abe's first cabinet. In this position, he promoted the controversial revision of the Fundamental Law of Education. He was subsequently appointed as Secretary-General of the LDP in September 2007; less than a year later, he was replaced in that position by
Taro Aso and was instead appointed as
Minister of Finance. He is known for his knowledge of finance and tax and welfare policies. He held the post of Finance Minister for less than two months, however, and was replaced by
Shōichi Nakagawa in the Cabinet of Prime Minister
Taro Aso, appointed on 24 September 2008. On 26 December 2012, Bunmei Ibuki was elected
Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan. He presided over the day of his inauguration, the election of Prime Minister
Shinzō Abe. ==Personal life==