Fine Gael While at Trinity College, Creighton was elected Deputy Secretary General of the
Youth of the European People's Party. She was elected to
Dublin City Council in 2004, at the age of 24, representing the
Pembroke local electoral area. Creighton was elected to
Dáil Éireann at her first attempt, at the
2007 general election, as its
youngest member, the first TD born in the 1980s. She was appointed
Fine Gael Spokesperson on European Affairs in 2007, remaining in post until 2010. During that period she was critical of party leader
Enda Kenny. In July 2010, she criticised what she termed the "
cute hoor politics" in Fine Gael. That October she was appointed as party deputy Spokesperson on Justice, with special responsibility for Immigration, Integration and Equality. She played a key role in Fine Gael's campaign for a 'yes' vote in both referendums on the
Treaty of Lisbon. Creighton was re-elected in
February 2011, topping the poll in
Dublin South-East. On 10 March 2011, she was appointed by the
Fine Gael–Labour government as
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and
at the Department of Foreign Affairs with responsibility as
Minister of State for European Affairs. Upon taking office she was openly critical of the response by European leaders to the
eurozone crisis, telling an audience in London in May 2011: During her time as Minister, Creighton visited every
EU member, candidate and aspiring country at least once, and represented the government at meetings and conferences such as the Croatia Summit in July 2012, the EU–
ASEAN ministerial meeting in
Brunei in April 2012 and the EU–
ASEM meeting in
Budapest in June 2011. She was also the first Irish government Minister to officially meet a Minister from
Myanmar, when she met its
Minister of Foreign Affairs in April 2012. Creighton was involved in the co-ordination of the planning and execution of
Ireland's 2013 EU Presidency, chairing a government committee responsible for all policy preparations and oversight. In January 2013, she hosted a meeting of European Affairs Ministers in
Dublin which focused on strengthening the democratic legitimacy of European Union states. Creighton played a central role during the
2012 referendum on the Stability Treaty, speaking at numerous public meetings and events. Along with
Simon Coveney, she devised Fine Gael's campaign for a 'yes' vote. Creighton was expelled from the Fine Gael parliamentary party on 11 July 2013, when she defied the party whip by voting against the
Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013, which allowed a termination of pregnancy by doctors in the case of a threat to a woman's life, including a risk of suicide. She also resigned as a
Minister of State.
Renua On 13 September 2013, she and six other expellees formed the
Reform Alliance, described as a "loose alliance" rather than a
political party. The expulsion was criticised as indicative of the suppressing of independent voices by the party whip system and, as such, the need for having an independent
Seanad. Creighton joined the
Dáil Technical Group in September 2014. On 2 January 2015, Creighton announced that she would found a new political party that spring. The party was to be founded under four principles, including, she claimed, "building an economy for entrepreneurs" and "giving politics back to the people." The party contested the February
2016 general election, ==Political positions==