National MP Katrina Shanks resigns

Katrina Shanks, National list MP and former National candidate for Ohariu. Photo / file

National list MP Katrina Shanks will resign from Parliament in the New Year and be replaced by list candidate Joanne Hayes based in Manawatu.

She is leaving Parliament to work as chief executive of the Funeral Directors' Association of New Zealand.

"The funeral services sector is facing change - legislative, demographic, and societal, and the association and its members need to be in front of this change. I look forward to the opportunities and challenges the sector has to face," she said in a statement today.

Katrina Shanks has stood for the past two elections in Ohariu.

Katrina Shanks has been a list MP since 2007, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of former leader Don Brash.

She had already announced her intention to stand down at the next election.

Joanne Hayes will replace Katrina Shanks in Parliament. Photo / supplied

Joanne Hayes contested Dunedin South for National in 2011 but is now based in Manawatu where she is director of community relations for UCOL tertiary institution in Wanganui.

She is a Maori descent and affiliates to Ngati Porou, Ati Haunui a Paparangi and Rangitane Ki Wairarapa.