Allison Ritchie

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Ritchie grew up on Hobart's Eastern Shore and attended Mornington Primary School, Clarence High School, Rosny College and the University of Tasmania. Coming from a family with strong political connections (an aunt, Carol Brown, is a federal senator and a great uncle was a state president of the ALP) Ritchie joined the Labor Party at age 14.

On 5 May 2001, Ritchie was elected to the Legislative Council.

On 24 November 2001, Ritchie became the first MP to marry for the first time while in office with her marriage to husband, David Cowle.^{[citation needed]} She also became the first woman to give birth while being a member of the Legislative Council with the birth of her son in December 2002.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2009, Ritchie attracted controversy over the employment of family members in her office. A review by the Auditor-General found that no formal rules had been broken but that "the recommendation of her mother’s appointment, in the knowledge of a flawed assessment process, was not in accordance with the principles of openness and objectivity outlined in the Code of Conduct."^[2]

Ritchie stepped down as Minister due to ill health (understood to be the diagnosis of an auto immune disease) on 24 November 2008 and resigned from Parliament entirely on 20 June 2009.^[1][3]

In January 2013, having resigned from the ALP in 2011, Ritchie announced her intention to contest once again in the upper house seat of Pembroke as an independent at the election held on Saturday 4 May—the seat was retained by the Liberal candidate and incumbent councillor Vanessa Goodwin.^[4]

At the 2022 Tasmanian local elections, Ritchie was elected Deputy Mayor of Clarence City Council.