He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the BN coalition.
[2] Before entering Parliament, Ismail was an official in UMNO's youth wing and operated a law firm in Temerloh.
[3] As deputy speaker, he rejected the opposition's motion to discuss 1MDB scandal in the Dewan Rakyat, leading to chaos.
[4] On 19 April 2024, Ismail admitted that he was responsible of, apologised for, regretted and promised to take full responsibility of the mass dumping of rice, flour and other food items at a garbage disposal site in Temerloh, Pahang after a video showing the food discarded there went viral on social media.
Besides, Ismail explained that the items were bought by him using the allocations from the federal and Pahang state governments for the people during his tenure as the Kuala Krau MP.