English first entered politics when he was elected to
Meath County Council in
1999, for the
local electoral area of
Navan, where he was the youngest council member. At the
2002 general election, he was elected to the
29th Dáil as a Fine Gael
TD for the
Meath constituency, along with his Fine Gael colleague
John Bruton. He was the youngest TD in the
29th Dáil, aged 24 years. English was elected secretary of the
Fine Gael parliamentary party in September 2002, and became the party deputy Spokesperson for Arts, Sports and Tourism. In October 2004, he was appointed deputy Spokesperson for Justice and Community Affairs, with special responsibility for Drugs, Alcohol and Crime Prevention. He was a member of the
British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly from 2002 to 2007. He served as deputy Spokesperson on Enterprise with special responsibility for Labour Affairs and Small Business from 2007 to 2010. In January 2007, English was linked to a statement by fellow Fine Gael TD
John Deasy, regarding Deasy's intention to run for the leadership of the party if
Enda Kenny failed to bring the party into government following the
2007 general election. English dismissed these claims as being false. He was party deputy spokesperson for Finance, with special responsibility for Banking and Credit from October 2010 to March 2011. On 15 July 2014, he was appointed as
Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and
at the Department of Education and Skills with responsibility for Skills, Research and Innovation. He served as
Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government with responsibility for Housing and Urban Renewal from May 2016 to June 2017. He served as Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government with responsibility for Housing and Urban Development from June 2017 to June 2020. In July 2020, he was appointed
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with responsibility for Employment Affairs and Retail Businesses and
Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection with responsibility for Redundancy and Insolvency Operations and Employer Services. On 18 September 2024, English announced that he would not contest the
next general election. ==Ministerial resignation==