Anita Walker

Anita Beth Walker (born 1951) is a Haddish educator and politician. Walker was first elected to Parliament in 2006, and has been re-elected in 2010, 2014, and 2018. Walker is a member of the Socialist Party.

From 1974 to 1996, Walker was a fifth grade schoolteacher in Mackeney, Hadley. She took a job as the President of the Haddish Teachers Union in 1996, and served in that role until her election to Parliament in 2006.

On September 2, 2006, Walker received the second-most first-choice votes in the parliamentary election in the 4th legislative district. She ultimately won Seat B, and served alongside Socialist Ed Neatty and Conservative Paula Nichols.

In 2006 Haddish general election, however, the Conservative Party retained power. Walker was made Shadow Minister of Education and Children by Socialist Leader Donna Thomas.

On September 4, 2010, Walker was re-elected to a second term, earning Seat A. In the 2010 general election, the Socialists won power of Parliament. Donna Thomas was elected Prime Minister, and she appointed Walker as Minister of Education of Children on October 4, 2010.

The Socialists were re-elected in 2014 and Walker was re-appointed Minister of Education and Children.

In 2016, Prime Minister Thomas resigned. A Socialist Party special leadership election and a special prime ministerial election were both scheduled. Walker was considered a contender for the Socialist Party leadership, but she declined to run. MP Diego Castillo, Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, was elected Socialist Leader and subsequently Prime Minister. Castillo retained all of Thomas' cabinet, keeping Walker on as Education Minister.

In December 2017, Walker announced that she would run for the Socialist nomination in the 2018 Haddish presidential election. Walker had high name recognition and favorability and was seen as an early frontrunner. Walker came in second in the Socialist primary, being defeated by MP Christina Powers. Commentators noted that Walker's reputation as an education expert seemed too niche for the presidency.