Paul Murphy was first elected to the Dáil for the Dublin South-West constituency on a single-issue campaign – opposing water charges–- in the 2014 byelection caused by the departure of Brian Hayes (FG) to Europe. Murphy’s election was a surprise to some who had expected Sinn Féin’s Cathal King to take the seat and his victory was seen as an endorsement of the anti-water charges campaign. Prior to 2014 he had been an MEP for the Dublin constituency between 2011 to 2014 for the Socialist Party. He had been political adviser to Joe Higgins during his time as MEP. He has been a member of the Socialist Party National Committee since 2001 and the National Executive Committee since 2010.