Hon Ruth Richardson was the Member of Parliament for Selwyn from 1981 to 1984 and later as New Zealand's Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1993.
Following her political career, Hon Richardson accepted a range of corporate governance roles. She is chair of The New Zealand Merino Company and the Kula Fund Advisory Committee. Previous governance roles included Dairy Brands, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, SYFT Technologies, Kiwinet and Wrightson.