[7] He entered politics from the United National Party under the guidance of Lalith Athulathmudali, a lecturer at the Ceylon Law College.

Lokubandara first entered parliament in 1977 representing the United National Party (UNP), defeating Dissanayake former Cabinet Minister of Health's son-in-law W. P. G. Ariyadasa who did not contest the 1977 general election.

In 1989, Lokubandara was appointed a Cabinet Minister when he was given the Ministries of Cultural Affairs, Education and Media by President Ranasinghe Premadasa.

[7] As the Minister of Indigenous Medicine, he was instrumental in introducing green porridge ("Kola Keda") and herbal tea to the society as well as in parliament.

[8] With the defeat of the UNP in the general elections of 1994, Lokubandara became the Chief Opposition Whip of the parliament.

[4] A UNP government was formed in 2001, and Lokubandara was appointed the Cabinet Minister of Justice, Law Reforms, National Integration and Buddha Sasana.

There you are masters of your own fate.Lokubandara was elected as the Speaker of Parliament on 4 April 2004,[10] after a controversial secret ballot lasting nine hours.

[4] He was a member of the Hela Havula Sinhalese literary organisation founded by Munidasa Cumaratunga.

He was very fond of the Sinhala language where Lokubandara socialized words such as herbal tea and kola keda which are commonly used in conversations.