On 3 June 2023, Naqvi announced his candidacy for the 2023 Ontario Liberal Party Leadership Election in which he lost to Bonnie Crombie finishing in third.

[2] Naqvi was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan and immigrated to Canada with his family after his father was jailed for nine months for leading a pro-democracy demonstration.

[3] In a September 2011 column, Adam Radwanski of The Globe and Mail called Naqvi "possibly the hardest-working constituency MPP in the province.

[3] The Ontario Liberal Party nomination in the riding of Ottawa Centre was opened up in March 2007 when incumbent MPP and Peterson era cabinet minister Richard Patten announced that he would not seek re-election.

Naqvi competed against long time Ottawa City Councillor Diane Deans, who was backed by the central party and endorsed by Patten, for the nomination.

[11][12] He was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to Rick Bartolucci, the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, in the cabinet announcement of 30 October 2007.

In March 2013, an article appeared in the Toronto Sun which claimed that Naqvi had endorsed an Islamist book on men physically punishing their wives.

[19] He also made a statement where he strongly condemned violence against women and stated, "I believe that abuse of any kind is unacceptable and I do not share the views expressed in this book".

[21] After the June 2014 election, Naqvi was moved to the position of Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services and Government House Leader.

[28] In a 2018 article naming him one of the 25 Most Influential in the Justice System and Legal Profession, Naqvi was “credited by voters as pulling Ontario’s court system into the future with his Digital Justice Action Plan, putting wireless internet in courtrooms, instituting the use of email and text for jury summons, as well as initiating a 2017 website that digitized the filing of civil claims.” Naqvi unsuccessfully sought a fourth mandate in the June 2018 Ontario general election.

[33] Naqvi was "disappointed" regarding the reopening of Wellington Road, in front of the Parliament of Canada, citing this would result in having cars and buses return to the street, even though the City of Ottawa planned bicycle lanes, further enhancing commuting.

He placed third in the 2023 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election behind Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie, who won the vote, and runner-up Nathaniel Erskine-Smith.