He was then appointed as a Member of the Temerloh District Council in 1987 and a Member of the Temerloh Municipal Council in 1996. In 1995, he was appointed Political Secretary to the Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism, Sabbaruddin Chik. He also was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Pahang Tenggara Board (DARA) in 1995 as well as the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board in the same year.[1] Before entering Parliament in 2004, Ismail Sabri served as Chairman of the National Sports Complex.[11]