Ruth Richardson

Her family had a long history in the area, and her great-grandfather George Pearce had served as MP for from to 1919.

Her father was active in the National Party's Patea branch.

Richardson was brought up as a Roman Catholic, and after finishing primary school, was sent to Sacred Heart College, a Catholic girls' high school in Wanganui.

Richardson decided on a career in Parliament at an early age, before she even left high school.

Sir Roy Jack, a National Party MP and a friend of her family, advised her to study law, which she did.

Richardson gained a law degree from the University of Canterbury.

After graduating, she worked for the Department of Justice.

Ruth Margaret Richardson (born 13 December 1950) is a retired New Zealand politician of the National Party who served as Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1993.

Richardson was born in southern Taranaki on 13 December 1950.

In 1975, Richardson married Andrew Wright, a colleague from the Department.

Richardson's first attempt to break into politics came when she challenged Sir Roy Jack for the National Party nomination in the.

His electorate was to become because of post-census boundary changes.

Besides alienating her from her old mentor, she also created considerable irritation in the higher ranks of the party, which frowned on challenges to sitting MPs who sought renomination.

The party was especially hostile when the challenge was made against long-serving MPs such as Sir Roy Jack.

George Chapman who chaired the selection said, "The tensions were tremendous, but Roy was finally confirmed as the candidate."

She was a member of the non-partisan political lobby organisation the Women's Electoral Lobby.

In 1978, Richardson contested the National Party's nomination for the Tasman seat.

She won the nomination, but in the 1978 election itself, she failed to defeat incumbent Labour MP Bill Rowling (who was leader of his party at the time).

In 1980, she was invited to contest the nomination for Selwyn, a National safe seat just outside Christchurch which was held by retiring MP Colin McLachlan.

She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Selwyn in 1981.

Following the National Party victory in the, Richardson was appointed as Finance Minister in the fourth National Government.

She won the nomination, and in the 1981 election, was elected to Parliament.

Richardson was influenced by the neo-liberal thought of Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek.

She quickly distinguished herself in the National Party caucus as a supporter of free market economics, privatisation, and trade liberalisation.

This contrasted considerably with the views held by National Party Prime Minister Robert Muldoon, who favoured an interventionist approach based on significant overseas borrowing.

Richardson's focus on financial matters was itself a cause for comment, as many female MPs (particularly in the National Party) had confined themselves to matters such as health and social welfare.

When National lost the 1984 election, Richardson became a member of the Opposition.

Richardson stood out in National's caucus for her strong support of the radical economic reforms of the Labour Party's new Finance Minister, Roger Douglas.

These reforms, sometimes known as "Rogernomics", involved the privatisation of state assets, the removal of tariffs and subsidies, and applying monetarism to control inflation.

These reforms were seen by many in the Labour Party as being against the traditional policies of the left-wing Labour Party, but were also opposed by the more conservative wings of the National Party.

Particularly hostile were followers of Robert Muldoon, a traditionalist conservative who opposed free market reforms as undermining state authority.

Shortly after National's electoral loss, Jim McLay replaced Muldoon as leader of the National Party and he appointed Richardson education spokesperson.

In February 1986 there was a considerable rearrangement of responsibilities in the opposition.

Her 1991 budget, which she dubbed the "Mother of all Budgets", formed the catalyst for her party's economic reforms known in the media as "Ruthanasia".

Richardson was a lawyer by profession.

She supported and carried on the free-market reforms initiated by the preceding Labour Government, and extended them in a significant way with the Fiscal Responsibility Act 1994.

Richardon's economic restructuring, including privatisation of state assets and cuts to social welfare, contributed to New Zealand emerging from its fiscal problems.

However, critics have noted the wide-ranging effects on New Zealand's social fabric including child poverty along with wealth inequality, which were both severely exacerbated.

Richardson was dismissed as Finance Minister following the ; she resigned from Parliament in 1994.

She later joined ACT New Zealand.