After first meeting
Alex Salmond in 2007, Bardell joined the SNP's election campaign for the
2007 Scottish Parliament election. For three years, she worked for Salmond and
Ian Hudghton MEP in his constituency office. Bardell then worked for the
US State Department in their Edinburgh consulate, Bardell contested the
Livingston seat for the SNP in the
2015 general election. Her mother, Lis Bardell had previously finished in second place for the SNP in the same constituency at the
2010 general election. overturning a Labour majority of 10,791 votes at the 2010 general election. Bardell became Shadow SNP Westminster Group Leader (Business, Innovation and Skills) in October 2015 and latterly was Spokesperson for Small Business, Enterprise and Innovation. In November 2018,
Speaker John Bercow reprimanded Bardell for playing
football in the debating chamber of the House of Commons at Westminster. She was again re-elected at the
2019 general election, with an increased majority of 13,435 votes (24.6%). In 2020 Bardell wrote to the Scottish Football Association (SFA) requesting that
David Martindale, a convicted drug dealer, be allowed to become manager of
Livingston FC. She tweeted that "The ability to be rehabilitated is a key part of an inclusive society" In March 2021,
The Sunday Times reported that Bardell suggested a curfew banning men from the streets after 6pm should be considered in areas where women have been killed. In the
2024 United Kingdom general election she lost her seat to the
Scottish Labour candidate
Gregor Poynton. ==Post-parliamentary career==