He served as the 9th Chief Minister of Malacca from December 1999 to May 2013, Deputy Minister of Health from November 1996 to December 1999, Deputy Minister of Transport from May 1995 to November 1996, Member of Parliament (MP) for Batu Berendam from April 1995 to November 1999, Member of the Malacca State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Bukit Batu from March 2004 to May 2013, for Paya Rumput from November 1999 to March 2004, for Sungai Udang from October 1990 to April 1995 and for Ayer Molek from August 1986 to October 1990.

He was a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

He got his tertiary education with Bachelor of Social Science at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

[3] He was a member of the Dewan Rakyat for Batu Berendam from 1995 to 1999 and tried to contest in Bukit Katil (later Hang Tuah Jaya) in 2013 and 2018 general elections but lost both to Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin from People's Justice Party.

[11] Mohd Ali entered the office of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Malacca on 5 June 2020 replacing Mohd Khalil Yaakob who ended his sixteen-year tenure as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Malacca and was reappointed for second term on 28 May 2024.