Kay Elson

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox officeholder Kay Selma Elson (born 25 January 1947) is an Australian politician who 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.<ref name="awr">Elson, Kay Selma (1947 – ), The Australian Women's Register, 22 April 2009.</ref> She was born in Brisbane, Queensland, and was a special events co-ordinator for a handicapped association,<ref>Retiring MPs, Australia Votes 2007, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2007.</ref> a shop proprietor and a financial consultant before entering politics.<ref name="awr" /> Elson is married to David, a beekeeper and bush poet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Elson has eight children, 24 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Elson had contested a total of four Queensland state elections prior to her candidacy for federal parliament.<ref>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Dead link</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Elson was preselected as the 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.

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