In the
1999 election, Chadwick stood as the
Labour Party candidate for the
Rotorua seat, and defeated incumbent
National Party MP
Max Bradford. At the
2005 election she was narrowly returned to
Parliament by 662 or 2.2% more votes than her opponent. In 2006, Chadwick's Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Easter Trading) Amendment Bill was drawn from the member's ballot. The bill passed its first reading and was sent to select committee, but was narrowly defeated at the second reading, 64 to 57. In 2007, she was appointed to
Cabinet as Minister of Conservation and Women's Affairs, as well as becoming an Associate Minister of Health. In the
2008 general election, Chadwick lost her seat to
National's
Todd McClay, whose margin was over 5000. Chadwick's loss was predicted by some commentators due to boundary changes which incorporated more rural areas into the electorate. However, due to Chadwick's list place of 30 she was able to return to parliament. In 2010, Chadwick attempted to introduce a bill to Parliament to partially liberalise abortion law. This bill was defeated at the caucus stage and was not brought before Parliament. Chadwick failed to regain her seat in the
2011 election, losing to
Todd McClay by a margin of more than 7,000 votes. On 27 November 2011 she announced that she would be retiring from politics. As a cabinet minister, Chadwick was entitled to the title of
The Honourable and became The Hon. Mrs Stephanie (Steve) Chadwick which is a title she was granted for the rest of her life after leaving parliament. ==Mayor of Rotorua==