Michael started his political career in 2001 after getting elected as Councillor. Later he was elected as Member of Lahore District Council. Michael was elected as member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab for the first time in 2002 Pakistani general election on one of the eight seats reserved for minorities. He was re-elected as the member of the Punjab Assembly for a second term in 2008 Pakistani general election. He was appointed as provincial minister of Punjab for human rights, provincial minister for Minority Affairs, provincial minister for Social Welfare and provincial minister for Women development. In 2010, he was appointed as the provincial minister for Finance Michael was elected member of the Senate of Pakistan in 2012 for the first time on a seat reserved for minorities after assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti. Upon PML-N victory in the 2013 Pakistani general election, Michael was made the Minister for Ports and Shipping in June 2013 where he served until May 2016. In 2016, he was appointed as Minister for Human Rights. He had ceased to hold ministerial office in July 2017 when the federal cabinet was disbanded following the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after Panama Papers case decision. Following the election of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as Prime Minister of Pakistan in August 2017, he was inducted into the federal cabinet of Abbasi. He was appointed as the Federal Minister for Statistics. He was nominated by PML-N as its candidate in 2018 Pakistani Senate election. However the Election Commission of Pakistan declared all PML-N candidates for the Senate election as independent after a ruling of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He was re-elected to the Senate as an independent candidate on a reserved seat for non-Muslim from Punjab in Senate election. On 12 March 2018, he ceased to hold the office of Federal Minister for Statistics due to expiration of his term in the Senate. On 15 March 2018, he was re-inducted into the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and was re-appointed as Federal Minister for Statistics. He joined the treasury benches, led by PML-N after assuming the office of Senator. Upon the dissolution of the National Assembly on the expiration of its term on 31 May 2018, Michael ceased to hold the office as Federal Minister for Statistics.
