Originally from the rural municipality of Ørskog in Sunnmøre, Listhaug began her political career in Oslo as City Commissioner of Welfare and Social Services.

[6] She has been a deputy representative in the Norwegian parliament from Møre og Romsdal (2001 to 2009), and from Oslo (2009 to 2013), with a total 95 days of parliamentary session served.

[10][11] Listhaug claimed she was not responsible for the plans, which were designed to make Oslo a prime example for other municipalities in regards to care for the elderly.

[12][13] Listhaug told reporters from the state broadcaster NRK in March 2010 that she did "not have the responsibility for the construction of the nursing home nor authoring the contracts".

[14] Other proposals by Listhaug as city commissioner included a stricter policy on psychiatric patients,[15] and putting up posters of convicted rapists in their local community.

[17] From 2012 until her cabinet appointment, Listhaug had worked as a senior consultant with First House,[6] a Norwegian strategic advisory, corporate communications, governmental affairs and crisis management/issue management agency.

[26] On 16 December 2015, Listhaug was appointed Minister of Immigration and Integration, a newly formed cabinet position under the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, amid the European migrant crisis and record-high numbers of asylum seekers in Norway that resulted in a broad parliamentary agreement to tighten asylum regulations.

[38] Opinion polls consistently showed Listhaug to have the highest approval rating of all government ministers from her party, and several others.

Listhaug introduced new legislation which would remove the passports from pedophiles committing assaults abroad, and it caused controversy when she unapologetically referred to these individuals as "monsters".

After insisting for several days amid criticism that no apology was warranted other than stating regret if offending anyone, the government led by Prime Minister Solberg, and eventually Listhaug herself apologised for the post in parliament.

The party's annual national meeting will constitute a new deputy leader on 3 September 2018, in order to replace Per Sandberg.

[57] Listhaug told reporters in Arendal: "I am humbled and honored to be mentioned as a deputy leader candidate", and added "I am ready to serve if the party wants me in such a role".

[60] Sylvi Listhaug was appointed Minister for the elderly and public health on 3 May 2019 in Erna Solberg's coalition government.

[61][62] On 6 May 2019, she sparred controversy when she, newly appointed as the new health minister, told reporters from NRK: "People should be allowed to smoke, drink and eat as much red meat as much as they want.

The secretary general of the Norwegian Cancer Society, Anne Lise Ryel, said Listhaug's comments were "potentially harmful to public health".

[65][66] In January 2020, she and the rest of Progress Party ministers withdrew from the government after a dispute over the return of an IS woman and her children.

Listhaug was subsequently replaced by Tina Bru on 24 January when her party had formally left the government, and returned to opposition.

[75][76][77] Listhaug lead her party into the 2021 election, campaigning for increased petroleum activity and against the left's environmental policies.

[78] In November, shortly after the resignation of Eva Kristin Hansen, Listhaug went out against Storting Director Marianne Andreassen after her responses to her questions about parliamentary apartments.

[79] Listhaug believes that the elderly should have legal rights to a place in private nursing homes paid by public funding.

She has advocated "zero tolerance" on crime, more visible police, and said that integration has to become better by having stricter demands on people who move to Norway, combined with a more restrictive immigration policy.

Speaking to state broadcaster NRK, Sylvi Listhaug said: "We can see that unfounded asylum seekers disappear while the police are processing their applications.

Minister Listhaug added that 90 out of 537 asylum seekers processed under the 48-hour procedure in 2015 disappeared, and that the locations of ninety percent of those still remain unknown to authorities.

[95][96] The proposals also would expand the ability of law enforcement agencies to store and acquire biometric information such as fingerprints, in order to determine whether an asylum applicant may present a security threat.

Listhaug had said in an interview with Verdens Gang that "parallel societies have developed in more than 60 places in Sweden", calling them "no-go zones", while insisting that there are conditions of lawlessness in some areas with large quantities of people with immigrant backgrounds.

[1] During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Listhaug stated to Verdens Gang that she tends to support the Republican Party, however, not Donald Trump.

[111] Listhaug originally opposed the introduction of same-sex marriage in Norway in 2009,[112] but in 2017 said she had turned to support it and become critical of Visjon Norge leader Jan Hanvold.