Elliott was a candidate in the 2009 Progressive Conservative leadership election and came in third place behind winner Tim Hudak and runner-up Frank Klees.

Prior to that she became a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow in recognition of her pro bono legal work.

She was board president of the Durham Mental Health Services (DMHS), which named one of their group homes in her honour (Elliott House).

[8][9] Her son Galen worked for Doug Ford, when he was a Toronto city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobicoke North.

[11] In March 2006, Elliott ran successfully as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the provincial riding of Whitby—Ajax in a by-election, replacing her husband who was elected to the federal Parliament.

[17][18] At the leadership convention on June 28, 2009, in Markham, Ontario, Elliott placed third in the results behind winner Tim Hudak and runner-up Frank Klees.

[22] On December 10, 2015, she was appointed by Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Eric Hoskins as Ontario's first Patient Ombudsman effective as of July 1, 2016.

The duties of the non-partisan position included acting on behalf of patients who have not had their issues resolved through normal complaint resolution processes.

"[23] On February 1, 2018, Elliott resigned as Patient Ombudsman to enter the Ontario PC Party leadership election.

[24] Elliott officially announced she was running for leadership on February 1, 2018, via Twitter, to replace Patrick Brown who had resigned as leader after sexual misconduct allegations were made against him.

[27][28] She stated she supported the "People's Guarantee" (the existing platform adopted by the PC Party in November 2017) with the exception of a carbon tax, which she opposed.

[31] She initially refused to concede to Ford, citing "serious irregularities" in the race and vowed to "investigate the extent of this discrepancy".

[32] On April 2, 2018, Elliott announced via Twitter her intention to seek the PC candidate nomination for the provincial riding of Newmarket-Aurora.

[37] Elliot was an active member of Doug Ford's Cabinet who provided front line health care workers with financial relief and recognition through pandemic pay.

Freedom of information documents show that during her time as minister, the clinic's annual funding from the province quadrupled.