Kay Selma Elson (born 25 January 1947), Australian politician, was a Liberal Member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 until her retirement in November 2007. Kay represented the Division of Forde, Queensland.^[1] She was born in Brisbane, Queensland, and was a special events co-ordinator for a handicapped association,^[2] a shop proprietor and a financial consultant before entering politics.^[1] Elson is married to David, a beekeeper and bush poet.^[3] Elson has eight children, 24 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.^[4]

Elson had contested a total of four Queensland state elections prior to her candidacy for federal parliament.^[5] She ran for Woodridge in 1983 as a Nationals candidate, Springwood in 1986 as an independent candidate, and Albert and Broadwater in 1989 and 1992 respectively as a Liberal Party candidate. She ran as "Elson, Selma Kay" for the 1983 election.^[6]

Elson was preselected as Liberal candidate in Forde for the 1996 election. The seat was originally a safe Labor seat, but a redistribution added some Liberal-friendly territory in the Scenic Rim, which all but erased Labor's majority. Elson defeated Labor incumbent Mary Crawford on a nine-percent swing, turning Forde into a safe Liberal seat in one stroke. Her victory was part of Labor's near-total collapse in Queensland; Labor was cut down to only two seats there.

In October 2006, Kay Elson announced that she would not be seeking a fifth term and retired at the 2007 Election. By this time, she had built up her majority to 12 percent. However, the seat was lost to Labor on a 14-point swing, making it one of the safest Coalition seats to be gained by Labor.

References