Ms Lovell was elected to parliament in 2002 and has served for the past 24 years.
She has served as state Member for Northern Victoria since 2006, and before that she represented the former North Eastern Province, which also included Shepparton, from 2002 to 2006.
Ms Lovell served as a cabinet minister in the Baillieu and Napthine Victorian governments, as well as being minister for housing and minister for children and early childhood development.
She has also served as deputy leader of the government and the opposition in the Legislative Council over a period of seven years.
Her time included being the Legislative Council deputy president since December 2018, and a stint as the Liberal Party whip in the Legislative Council from 2014 to 2018.
She has also had stints as the deputy leader of the Liberal Party in the Legislative Council from 2010 to 2014, and deputy leader of the government in the Legislative Council from 2010 to 2014.
She was also deputy leader of the opposition in the Legislative Council from 2008 to 2010.
Ms Lovell has advised Liberal leader Jess Wilson of her decision not to stand in the November 2026 election.
Ms Lovell has thanked the people of Northern Victoria Region and North Eastern Province who elected her six times.
“It has been a great privilege for me to represent the people of Northern Victoria Region and before that, North Eastern Province, in the Victorian parliament,” she said.
“Shepparton has been my home for my entire adult life, and the opportunity to represent the region I care so deeply about has been the great honour of my life.”
Ms Lovell said one of her stand-outs was seeing programs she introduced, such as Education First Youth Foyers, become embedded in Victoria’s housing response.
Ms Lovell said she was thankful for having been given the opportunity to work as a Liberal MP, and thanked members of the Liberal Party who had served as the chair or as an executive member of her electorate council and the thousands of party volunteers who had supported her over the years.
“I particularly thank my current chair, John Lithgow, who has held this position for many years,” she said.
She also thanked her family for their unwavering support throughout her political career.
“Whenever needed they have been there as a grounding influence, a cheer squad or as counsellors during some of the tougher times like the 2009 bushfires and 2022 flood,” she said.
“Without them, my career would not have been possible.
Ms Lovell also thanked her hard-working team, in particular her current electorate staff and her former electorate and ministerial staff, for their “incredible loyalty, dedication and hard work”.
20°C