Judith Collins, a central player in New Zealand politics for more than a decade, is leaving parliament for a top law post.
The former National leader will step down ahead of the November 7 election and become the president of the Law Commission.
"The highs have been high. The lows have been very low," she told journalists at a surprise press conference on Wednesday.
"I feel like I've done my dash and it's time for someone else to step in."
The 66-year-old served as a minister under the John Key, Bill English and Chris Luxon governments, but stumbled in 2020 when she led the National party to an election defeat.
She agreed that loss was a "hospital pass", taking the reins after two leadership changes in three months, with her party unlikely to win with Jacinda Ardern's Labour party at the peak of its pandemic-fighting powers.
"The 2020 election was pretty bad, but ... it could have been worse," she said.
"My husband still tells me that I should not have done that. But the thing is that sometimes you just got to step up when you want to run away from it."
Ms Collins was rolled the next year by Mr Luxon, who then gave her senior portfolios in opposition and, after his 2023 election win, in government, including the current attorney-general and defence ministries.
She named 2025's defence capability review, which will see New Zealand bump up its defence spending and coordinate with ally Australia, as one of her best moments.
"I spent about 14 months trying to get that through ... working with coalition partners also getting a decent response from the opposition was really important to me," she said.
The Papakura MP, first elected in 2002, was forced out of her ministries in 2014 for conflicts of interest with a Kiwi dairy exporter, and colluding with a right-wing blogger over a spate of attacks known as the "dirty politics" affair.
The indefatigable and divisive MP - nicknamed "Crusher" Collins for her enthusiasm for a car-crashing policy - shrugged this off on Wednesday, saying it was unjustified.
"What a load of rubbish that was," she said.
She published her political memoirs, titled Pull No Punches, in 2020 and has suggested she may write another, and perhaps also a murder-mystery novel.
Ms Collins is the 12th MP to resign this parliament - a particularly high turnover - including senior Labour figures Grant Robertson, Andrew Little, Kelvin Davis and David Parker, and Greens leader James Shaw.
Mr Luxon is expected to announce a reshuffle including Ms Collins' portfolios in the coming weeks.
"It is with great regret and enormous gratitude that I thank Judith for her service," the prime minister said.
"She has served this country with commitment and conviction."
