Judy Manning (lawyer)

Judy Manning is a Canadian lawyer in Newfoundland and Labrador. She served as the Minister of Justice and Public Safety, Attorney General and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women in the provincial cabinet from September 30, 2014, to March 12, 2015. Manning was appointed to cabinet by Premier Paul Davis despite not holding a seat in the House of Assembly.^[1]

Manning's appointment to cabinet came under fire due to her not being an elected member and because she was unwilling to seek a seat in the House of Assembly in three by-elections. Manning stated she intended to be the Progressive Conservative candidate in the district of Placentia—St. Mary's when that seat became available. The seat is currently represented by Felix Collins who had previously indicated he would not seek re-election.^[2] On March 12, 2015, Manning was removed from cabinet along with two other ministers. Davis cited cost savings as his reason for reducing his cabinet but also noted he was unwilling to have Manning serve in cabinet for up to a year without her holding a seat in the legislature. Davis said he had originally planned on calling a spring election but that was delayed till the fall by his government's decision to remove eight seats from he House of Assembly. It was later reported that when Manning was appointed to cabinet she and Davis were under the impression that Collins would resign his seat in the near future, creating a by-election for her to run in. However, Collins did not resign his seat and he found himself back in cabinet as Attorney General after Manning's departure due to him being the only lawyer within caucus.^[3]

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