Lynda Marie Scott is a former New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 politician. She was a member of the National Party

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...

.

Early life

Scott attended Mairehau High School

Mairehau High School

Mairehau High School is a school in Christchurch, New Zealand, taking its name from the suburb Mairehau. The school is located at the northeast end of the suburb, near to Shirley, thus forming a coeducational alternative to Shirley Boys' High School, and Avonside Girls' High School.The school is...

 in Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

. She trained as a nurse in Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

 and then became a doctor in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

. She worked as a geriatrician

Geriatrics

Geriatrics is a sub-specialty of internal medicine and family medicine that focuses on health care of elderly people. It aims to promote health by preventing and treating diseases and disabilities in older adults. There is no set age at which patients may be under the care of a geriatrician, or...

. For a time, she also served as a director of Blenheim radio station Sounds FM

Sounds FM

Sounds FM was a radio station in the Marlborough region of New Zealand. Sounds FM had its origins as a school-based radio station, X-Static FM operated by The X-Static Society. The station was based at Marlborough Boys' College and broadcast on 89FM with the callsign 2STA...

.

Member of Parliament

Scott was first elected to Parliament in the 1999 elections

New Zealand general election, 1999

The 1999 New Zealand general election was held on 27 November 1999 to determine the composition of the 46th New Zealand Parliament. The governing National Party, led by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, was defeated, being replaced by a coalition of Helen Clark's Labour Party and the smaller Alliance...

, winning the South Island seat of Kaikōura

Kaikoura (New Zealand electorate)

right|thumb|Kaikōura electorateKaikōura is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, returning a single MP to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Kaikōura is Colin King of the National Party...

. She replaced Doug Kidd

Doug Kidd

Sir Douglas Lorimer Kidd, KNZM is a former New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1978 to 2002, representing the National Party. He served for three years as Speaker of the House of Representatives.-Early life:...

, a long-serving National MP who had opted to become a list MP. In 2002, she became National's spokesperson for health. On 21 July 2004, however, she announced that she would retire from politics at the next election, returning to her "first love", medicine.