Kate Wilkinson

Catherine Joan Wilkinson (born 3 August 1957) is a New Zealand farmer and politician. She was a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the National Party from until her retirement in 2014. From 2008 until January 2013, she was a member of cabinet, holding the portfolios of Labour (from which she resigned over the Pike River Mine disaster), Conservation, Food Safety, and Associate Immigration, before being removed from cabinet by Prime Minister John Key. Life and career before politics Wilkinson was raised on a mixed cropping farm at Chertsey in Mid Canterbury. She was educated at St Margaret's College in Christchurch, and went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Canterbury. She worked as a lawyer for 25 years with Christchurch firm Harman & Co, becoming a partner in 1984, before gaining election to Parliament in 2005. Political career In the 2005 election, Wilkinson was a candidate for the National Party, standing in the Waimakariri electorate and ranked 38th on the party list. She entered Parliament as a list MP. She has made a successful start to her career in politics, rising to 28th on the list, and eventually becoming a Cabinet minister. Although unsuccessful in terms of electorate vote again (losing to incumbent Clayton Cosgrove of the Labour Party by 390 votes in the 2008 election – the second narrowest margin in the country), National won a commanding margin in the party vote.