Local government Simmonds was elected to
Brisbane City Council at a by-election in 2010, representing
Walter Taylor Ward for the LNP. He was re-elected at the
2012 and
2016 local elections. Simmonds served as chair of the committees for public and active transport (2011–2012), finance, economic development and administration (2012–2016), and city planning (2016–2018). In his final speech to council in March 2019 he recalled there were "not many jobs that would give a 26-year-old the chance to help manage a $3 billion dollar budget". He resigned as a councillor in April 2019 to contest the upcoming federal election and was succeeded by James Mackay.
Federal politics In May 2018, Simmonds defeated the sitting member
Jane Prentice for LNP
preselection in the
Division of Ryan. He won the vote by 256 votes to 103, in what
The Courier-Mail described as "a bitter preselection battle". He retained Ryan for the LNP at the
2019 election with a small negative swing. Simmonds was the Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement. Simmonds lost his seat in the
Division of Ryan during the 2022 federal election to the
Australian Greens candidate
Elizabeth Watson-Brown with a 10% negative swing against him. On 26 May 2022, Simmonds conceded losing the electorate of Ryan. Simmonds is a member of the centre-right faction. In May 2024, Simmonds started political advertising under the "Australians for Prosperity" brand. Simmonds has used "Australians for Prosperity" to run billboard campaigns against
Green and
Teal candidates who defeated sitting Liberal candidates at the 2022 federal election, including in his former seat of Ryan, leading the Teals to call for truth in election advertising laws. ==Business==