She was later elected president of the federal Young Nationals and chairman of the state Young Nationals, positions which she held until her election to parliament. She was preselected for the eleventh position on the
Coalition Legislative Council ticket for the
2011 state election in April 2010; while normally unwinnable, the near-record size of the Coalition's victory saw her emerge victorious for the last seat in an extremely close race with right-wing independent
Pauline Hanson. She married Anthony Mitchell in April 2011, and took her husband's name; she had been elected two weeks before under her maiden name of Johnston. She has served on several standing and select committees, and currently sits on the General Purpose Standing Committee No. 3. During her first years in Parliament, Sarah chaired the General Purpose Standing Committee No. 4, which undertook an inquiry into medicinal cannabis, resulting in a report unanimously in favour of the provision of medicinal cannabis for the terminally ill. Mitchell was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Regional and Rural Health and Western NSW on 24 April 2015. Following the resignation of
Mike Baird as
Premier,
Gladys Berejiklian was elected as
Liberal leader and sworn in as Premier. The
first Berejiklian ministry was subsequently formed with Mitchell sworn in as the Minister for Early Childhood Education, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and the Assistant Minister for Education with effect from 30 January 2017. She also became the
Deputy Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council. ==See also==