Early political career

Doocey stood in the 2013 Christchurch East by-election placing second behind Poto Williams. At the time, Doocey was a manager for the Canterbury District Health Board.^[3] The party's Canterbury Westland Regional Chair, Roger Bridge, noted that a sitting government has never won a by-election in an electorate that it did not already hold.^[4] Bridge later conceded that it would be "very, very hard for us to win".^[5] When Kate Wilkinson, National MP for the Waimakariri electorate, announced in early November 2013 that she would retire at the end of the term of the 50th Parliament, rumours immediately surfaced that Doocey is going to replace her as the candidate in the Waimakariri electorate, and the Christchurch East by-election was for him to gain experience in contesting an election.^[6][7]

In government, 2014–2017

Doocey left his job in June 2014 to focus on the Waimakariri election campaign.^[8] He beat the Labour Party's candidate Clayton Cosgrove with an increased majority compared to the 2011 election.^[9][10]

For the 51st New Zealand Parliament Doocey was appointed Deputy Chair of the Social Services Select Committee.^[11] In 2016 he brought a cross-party delegation of the Social Services Select Committee to Canterbury to hear from service providers about their response to communities’ psycho-social recovery needs in post-earthquake Canterbury. Also in his first term, Doocey was appointed the third Whip of the National Government.^{[citation needed]}

During the 2017 general election, Doocey retained his seat in Waimakariri by a margin of 10,766 votes.^[12]

In opposition, 2017–2023

For the 52nd New Zealand Parliament, Doocey served as National's Junior Whip, working closely with the Party's Senior Whip.^[13] He was also appointed Spokesperson for Mental Health and is National's Associate Spokesperson for Health, and a member of the Health Select Committee.^{[citation needed][14]}

As National's first Spokesperson for Mental Health, in 2018, Doocey wrote to every political party in Parliament to invite them to join a cross-party approach to mental health that would focus on developing solutions and policy over a longer period than the Parliamentary three-year term. Doocey believed that by initiating a bipartisan approach to mental health this would break down some of the barriers to progress to improve mental health outcomes in New Zealand. However, Labour and the Greens rejected National's offer for a cross-party approach to mental health.^[15][16]

On 28 August 2019, John Kirwan launched the Mental Health and Addictions Wellbeing cross-party group, with the executive consisting of Matt Doocey, Louisa Wall (Labour), Chlöe Swarbrick (Green Party), Jenny Marcroft (New Zealand First) and David Seymour (ACT), to work together to improve mental health and wellbeing in New Zealand.^{[citation needed][17]}

During the 2020 general election, Doocey retained Waimakariri for the National Party by a final margin of 1,507 votes.^[18] He was named Backbencher of the Year in Stuff's political awards 2020, and following the election, the National caucus elected him as its Senior Whip on 10 November.^[19] He served in this role until December 2021, when he joined the National Party front bench under the new leader Christopher Luxon.^[20]

In government, 2023–present

During the 2023 New Zealand general election, Doocey retained the Waimakariri electorate, winning his greatest majority yet of 13,010 votes.^[21]

Following the formation of the National-led coalition government in late November 2023, Doocey was named Minister for Mental Health, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), Tourism and Hospitality, and Youth, and appointed Associate Minister of Health and Transport. He was also appointed to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's Cabinet.^[22]