Early political campaign Wagner was selected as the
National Party candidate in
Christchurch Central for the
2002 general election, and ranked at 37th on the party list. She lost convincingly to the incumbent,
Tim Barnett, and National's overall poor result meant she was not elected as a
list MP.
Local government Environment Canterbury (ECan) councillor Peter Yeoman died in October 2002. Soon after, councillor
Neil Cherry resigned shortly over health concerns. Both councillors had represented the Christchurch West constituency. The by-election to fill the vacancies was held in April 2003 and won by Wagner and former
National Party Member of Parliament
Alec Neill. When Wagner received a high list ranking for the
2005 general election, there was concern whether she could do justice to both being a regional councillor and a member of parliament. Wagner was elected to Parliament in retired from ECan at the
2007 local elections.
Member of Parliament Wagner was re-selected for National in Christchurch Central in the
2005 general election and given an improved list rank of 28. This was the third-highest placement for candidates who were not already members of Parliament, behind
Tim Groser and
Chris Finlayson. When National won 39.1% of the party vote, Wagner was elected as a
list MP. Prior to her election, Wagner had endorsed the
NZ Flag.com Trust's campaign for a referendum on New Zealand's flag, stating "Our flag should celebrate our nation's identity and our special foot-print on this earth. We will always respect and cherish our links with the past that are represented in our present flag but a young country needs to create a strong vision for its future." In her maiden statement, delivered on 22 November 2005, Wagner said: "Strong countries built this country, but we, the present generation, are free-riding on the efforts of those who have gone before." At the
2008 election, in which she lost in her electorate to new Labour candidate
Brendon Burns, Wagner reduced Labour's majority by nearly 7,000 votes but was returned for a second term as a list MP. In her second term, she was deputy chair of the Local Government and Environment committee and also sat on the Health committee and the Emissions Trading Scheme Review committee. In 2009, she voted against the
Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill, a bill aimed at amending the Misuse of Drugs Act so that cannabis could be used for medical purposes. However, in 2012 and 2013 she voted in support of the
Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, which passed and legalised same-sex marriage in New Zealand. At the
2011 election, the contest in Christchurch Central was tied on election night. Special votes, counted later, gave Wagner a 47-vote majority. This marked the first time National had ever held the Christchurch Central electorate since its creation in 1946. In her third term, Wagner chaired the Local Government and Environment committee and sat on the Māori Affairs committee. In May 2014, Wagner became a Minister outside Cabinet, succeeding
Maurice Williamson as
Minister of Customs,
Minister of Statistics, Associate Minister of Conservation, and Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery. The boundaries of the Christchurch Central electorate were redrawn for the . When the draft boundaries were published for consultation, Wagner declared the electorate as more Labour-focussed and "unwinnable" due to the proposed loss of more affluent suburbs. However, she stood again and won an improved majority of 2,420. During the election period Wagner defended employing Simon Lusk, a controversial political strategist mentioned in
Dirty Politics, claiming New Zealand's grassroots campaigning is "very much amateurish". After the election, she was reappointed to the ministry as Minister of Customs, Minister for Disability Issues, Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery, and Associate Minister of Conservation. She became an associate minister in the health and tourism portfolios in December 2016. In a May 2017 reshuffle, she relinquished the customs portfolio and became Minister supporting Greater Christchurch Regeneration. After losing her seat in the
2017 election to Labour's
Duncan Webb, she stayed on as a list MP, but decided not to stand again for the
2020 election. She was the National Party opposition spokesperson for disability issues from November 2017 to March 2018, and for arts, culture and heritage and greater Christchurch regeneration from March 2018 to February 2020. == References ==