East Coast MP Anne Tolley has today announced she will be retiring from Parliament at the 2020 General Election.
Mrs Tolley has been the MP for East Coast since 2005 and was first elected as a National MP in 1999. Mrs Tolley served as the National Party's first female Whip and has held a wide range of ministerial portfolios including Education, Corrections, Police, Tertiary Education, Social Development, Youth, Children and Local Government.
More recently Mrs Tolley has been the Deputy Speaker of the House and was elected as the second Vice President to the Bureau of Women Parliamentarians at the 138th IPU Assembly in 2018.
Mrs Tolley gave the keynote address at the United Nations Development Programme's Pacific Women in Power Forum and was invited to help lead a workshop in Turkey for Women's Political Participation, to increase their representation in Turkish Parliament.
"I have had tremendous support from my family throughout my political career which has spanned 34 years. My husband has lived a political widower's life, too often taking second place to the needs of my job.
"So the time has come for me to put life with him and our family first and to do the things we've talked about but struggled to fit into a busy political schedule.
"There is no greater privilege than to be trusted to represent your community in Parliament, and for 15 years the people of the East Coast Electorate have given me that trust and support. I'm also extremely grateful to the National Party for the many amazing opportunities it has afforded me.
"I am confident National has the leadership and the team to win Government in the upcoming election. I know our fantastic, hard-working candidate Tania Tapsell will win the East Coast seat, so it is a great time for me to step back, relaxed, knowing I leave it all in good hands."
