Joyce was first elected in the 1989 election — however, as party leader Clyde Wells had been defeated by Lynn Verge in his own riding despite leading the Liberal Party to victory, Joyce stepped aside to allow Wells to contest the seat in a by-election. He worked in the executive offices of Wells and his successor as Premier, Brian Tobin, until the 1999 election, when he ran for office again in Bay of Islands. He won the seat and served until the 2007 election, when he was defeated by Terry Loder.[4][1] In October 2010, Joyce announced that he would re-seek the Liberal nomination, and in the 2011 provincial election he defeated Loder to reclaim his old seat.[5][6]
On July 18, 2013 Joyce was named Leader of the Opposition and interim Liberal leader, replacing Dwight Ball who resigned to run for the provincial leadership permanently in the party's 2013 convention.[1][7] Following the Liberals forming government in the 2015 election, Joyce was named to provincial cabinet.[8][9] On April 25, 2018, Joyce was formally accused of harassment by another Liberal MHA. He was subsequently removed from cabinet and caucus pending the outcome of an investigation.[10][11]
On August 27, 2018, CBC released a copy of the Commissioner for Legislative Standards report regarding allegations made by fellow Liberal MHA Colin Holloway which cleared Joyce and Dale Kirby of any wrongdoing.[12] On October 21, 2018, the Commissioner's report regarding the complaints made by Sherry Gambin-Walsh was leaked to the public. The report found that Joyce had broken the code of conduct for elected officials when he lobbied Minister Gambin-Walsh to hire a friend of his for a government job; Joyce was cleared on all other allegations.[13][14][15][16] On November 16, 2018 Joyce confirmed that he had been denied re-entry into the Liberal caucus.
Joyce contested the 2019 provincial election as an independent candidate in Humber-Bay of Islands. He was re-elected as an independent.[17][18] In the 2021 provincial election, Joyce was again re-elected.[19][20] Joyce was re-elected in the 2025 Newfoundland and Labrador general election.[21]
Following the retirement of MHA Tom Osborne in 2024, Joyce became the province's longest serving MHA. Joyce has been in the House of Assembly since 2011; he also previously served between 1999 and 2007.