Marian Leslie Hobbs (born 18 December 1947), a New Zealand politician, was a Labour Member of Parliament from 1996 to 2008. She was initially a list MP and then (from 1999) represented the Wellington Central electorate. She served as one of two Assistant Speakers of the House of Representatives.
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Hobbs was raised in Dunedin and was educated at St Dominic's College. Before entering politics, Hobbs worked as a teacher and as a school principal. She helped to establish the Chippenham commune in Christchurch and is by religious affiliation a Friend (Quaker).[1]
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| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party |
| 1996–1999 | 45th | List | 23 | Labour |
| 1999–2002 | 46th | Wellington Central | 23 | Labour |
| 2002–2005 | 47th | Wellington Central | 17 | Labour |
| 2005–2008 | 48th | Wellington Central | 9 | Labour |
Hobbs stood unsuccessfully in the Selwyn by-election of 1994, but won election to Parliament as a list MP in the 1996 elections. (In the same elections she unsuccessfully contested the Kaikoura seat against the National Party's Doug Kidd).
In the 1999 elections, Hobbs won the Wellington Central electorate, defeating the incumbent member, ACT Party leader Richard Prebble.
After Labour's electoral victory in 1999, Hobbs joined the Cabinet, becoming Minister for the Environment, Minister of Biosecurity, Minister of Broadcasting, and Minister Responsible for the National Library of New Zealand and Archives New Zealand. In February 2001, she briefly resigned from Cabinet while an enquiry investigated her allowance-claims; she returned in late March after receiving official clearance.
Following the 2002 General Election, Hobbs functioned as the Minister for the Environment, Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade with responsibility for Official Development Assistance, Associate Minister for Biosecurity, Associate Minister of Education, Minister Responsible for the National Library, Minister Responsible for Archives New Zealand, and Minister Responsible for Urban Affairs.
In 2004, Hobbs told Prime Minister Helen Clark that she did not expect to seek a post in Cabinet again after the 2005 election, and she made this decision public during the negotiations to form a government in October 2005.
As Minister of Broadcasting, Hobbs set a code of practice for New Zealand commercial radio, specifying that 20 percent of music played should have New Zealand origins.
Hobbs held the Electorate seat of Wellington Central until the 2008 election. At the 2005 general election she retained her seat with a 6,180 majority over the National Party candidate, Mark Blumsky.[2] In March 2008, she became the Assistant Speaker of the House, after Ann Hartley resigned.
In December 2006 Hobbs announced (during a radio-interview) that she would not seek re-election at the 2008 general election, confirming much speculation to that effect. She has signalled her intention to work as a teacher in the United Kingdom, in compensation for never having made a traditional working-holiday as a young woman. She is now the Headteacher at Prince William School in Oundle, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom.