In 2003, Ghiz narrowly defeated former provincial Health Minister
Alan Buchanan for the leadership of the party and went on to win a seat in the
Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in the
2003 provincial election. The MLA for Charlottetown-Rochford Square (now
Charlottetown-Brighton) served as Leader of the
Official Opposition in the provincial legislature from 2003 to 2007. Ghiz faced a controversy during the lead-up to the
2007 provincial election when he intervened in the nominating procedure in a rural electoral district northeast of Charlottetown. Ghiz refused to sign his party's nominating papers for the winning candidate who had made a controversial speech endorsing
patronage. Ghiz led his party to power in the general election held on May 28, 2007, defeating
Pat Binns after 11 years of Progressive Conservative government. Ghiz won 23 of the 27 seats, reversing the standings in the legislature at the time of dissolution. Ghiz and his 11-member cabinet were sworn in on June 12, 2007. A 24th member was elected in October in a by-election held after the resignation of Pat Binns. In early 2011, he was featured in an episode of
CBC Television's
Make the Politician Work. On October 3, 2011, the Ghiz Liberals were
elected to a second term, winning 22 of 27 seats. The PEI Progressive Conservative party under the leadership of Olive Crane won the remaining 5 seats. Following the 2011 provincial election Ghiz announced that he would find a high-level position for Allan Campbell, who had lost his seat during the election. Campbell was later appointed Chief of Staff in the Premier's Office. On November 13, 2014, Ghiz announced he would be resigning as Premier as soon as the Liberal Party
elected a new leader. Ghiz resigned as Premier on February 23, 2015, and was succeeded by the new Liberal Party leader,
Wade MacLauchlan. He resigned his seat in the
Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island the next day. ==Life after politics==