At the November 2006 Victorian state election, Wakeling defeated the incumbent ALP member, Anne Eckstein, by 27 votes.
At the 2010 state election, Wakeling recorded a swing of almost 12% to take the electorate from the Liberal Party's most marginal to safe seat status.
He was appointed Minister for Higher Education and Skills in March 2014, serving until the defeat of the Coalition government at the 2014 state election.
[2] Wakeling supported Matthew Guy's successful 2021 bid to replace Michael O’Brien as Leader of the Opposition.
[3] Prior to Matthew Guy's directive to Liberal Party MPs that they were not to address protestors opposing health measures in Victoria,[4] Wakeling was criticised for being one of a number of Liberal Party MPs who attended one of these rallies, which featured a number violent threats against the Premier from members of ‘fringe’ protest groups.