Sherry Matsuda

The Honourable 	The Honourable
Sherry Matsuda 	Sherry Matsuda
松田 静子 	松田 静子
Matsuda in 2010 	Matsuda in 2010
37th Prime Minister of EnderronElections: 2010, 2014	37th Prime Minister of EnderronElections: 2010, 2014
In office 	In office
6 July 2009 – 1 November 2014 	6 July 2009 – 1 November 2014
President 	Helen VandenbergJames Stanhope
Deputy 	Jeremy WanseyDon Dansby
Preceded by 	Adrian Coghlan
Succeeded by 	Tom Woodlands
3rd Leader of the Liberal Party 	3rd Leader of the Liberal Party
In office 	In office
6 July 2009 – 1 November 2014 	6 July 2009 – 1 November 2014
Deputy 	Jeremy WanseyDon Dansby
Preceded by 	Adrian Coghlan
Succeeded by 	Jeremy Wansey
15th Deputy Prime Minister of Enderron 	15th Deputy Prime Minister of Enderron
In office 	In office
14 April 2009 – 6 July 2009 	14 April 2009 – 6 July 2009
Prime Minister 	Adrian Coghlan
Preceded by 	Don Dansby
Succeeded by 	Jeremy Wansey
Minister for Foreign Affairs 	Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 	In office
17 February 2008 – 6 July 2009 	17 February 2008 – 6 July 2009
Prime Minister 	Adrian Coghlan
Preceded by 	Marilyn Richards
Succeeded by 	John Taggart
Minister for Social Services 	Minister for Social Services
In office 	In office
28 October 2006 – 17 February 2008 	28 October 2006 – 17 February 2008
Prime Minister 	Wally Koepke
Preceded by 	James Newmann
Succeeded by 	Marilyn Richards
Member of the Enderronian Parliamentfor Rijkens 	Member of the Enderronian Parliamentfor Rijkens
In office 	In office
17 August 2005 – 22 October 2014 	17 August 2005 – 22 October 2014
Preceded by 	Noburo Ito
Succeeded by 	Nick Pisano
Mayor of Shirakawa 	Mayor of Shirakawa
In office 	In office
14 July 1998 – 30 May 2005 	14 July 1998 – 30 May 2005
Deputy 	Lucas KeaneShinzo TomaruCharles Yeh
Preceded by 	David Sears
Succeeded by 	Charles Yeh
Personal details 	Personal details
Born 	Sherry Shizuko Matsuda27 March 1971 (age )Shirakawa, Enderron
Political party 	Liberal (since 2000)Liberal Democrats (before 2000)
Spouse(s) 	Nathan Hiroto (m. 2000)
Children 	2
Alma mater 	University of Shirakawa
Sherry Shizuko Matsuda (/ˈmætsudə/While Matsuda herself pronounces it thus, she has stated that she does not mind if the alternative pronunciation of /mætˈsuːdə/ is used by others.; Japanese: 松田 静子 Matsuda Shizuko, born 27 March 1971) is an Enderronian former politician who served as the 37th Prime Minister of Enderron and leader of the Liberal Party of Enderron from 2009 to 2014. She represented the seat of Rijkens in the Enderronian Parliament from 2005 to 2014. As a second-generation Japanese Enderronian, she was the first Prime Minister of non-European and Asian descent, and the youngest Enderronian head of government at the time of appointment, having taken office at age 38.
Matsuda was born in Shirakawa, Tojima to Akira Matsuda (born 1938) and Yuna Matsuda, née Arata (born 1944). Akira and Yuna migrated from Japan to Enderron in the 1960s. As a part of the Nisei generation of Japanese Enderronians, Matsuda was raised in a culturally Japanese household, and English was her second language. She graduated from the University of Shirakawa with a Bachelor of Commerce. While at university, she became involved in local politics and joined the Liberal Democrats. In 1992, while still attending university, she was elected to the Shirakawa City Council, and became mayor in 1998, at age 27, making her one of the youngest city mayors in Enderronian history.
As mayor, Matsuda pursued a policy of decreasing bureaucracy in Shirakawa local government, promoting Shirakawa as a tourist destination, and advocating for improvements to Shirakawa's public transport system, particularly increasing the density and frequency of city bus routes. Under her leadership, the mayoralty became a directly elected office. Opinion polling consistently showed her to be one of Enderron's most popular local politicians from 2002 to 2004, and she was re-elected with comfortable margins in the 2002 and 2004 elections. After seven years in office, Matsuda resigned to contest the 2005 by-election for the seat of Rijkens in the Enderronian Parliament. She won after narrowly defeating the Social Democrats and was immediately promoted to the outer cabinet. She initially served as the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure until the 2006 federal election, when she was promoted to the frontbench as the Minister for Social Services. After Adrian Coghlan became prime minister in 2008, Matsuda became the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Matsuda was elected Deputy Prime Minister unopposed on 14 April 2009 following the resignation of Don Dansby. In July of the same year, she succeeded Coghlan as leader of the Liberal Party, thus becoming prime minister.
Matsuda was the first Liberal leader to be from the Liberal Democrat side of the merger, and was a key figure in the merged Liberal Party's moderate wing. Thus, the Matsuda Government followed a relatively different trajectory to its predecessors, retaining the Liberal Party's fiscally conservative platform but also introducing several socially liberal policies. Matsuda sought to reduce the deficit caused by the global financial crisis, largely through austerity measures and cuts in social spending. Economic growth rebounded and remained relatively strong under her prime ministership, returning to pre-GFC levels towards the end of her tenure. In terms of social policy, Matsuda moved to a significantly more liberal platform compared to her predecessors. Under her leadership, the party legislated to legalise same-sex marriage, but was blocked by its conservative faction. Following a lengthy debate throughout 2010, the legislation was passed through a conscience vote in parliament. Matsuda's administration also enacted several changes to welfare, immigration and tertiary education.
Matsuda led the Liberals to a third term in government at the 2010 federal election, albeit as a minority government supported by the Enderron National Party. A number of key by-election wins and party switches throughout the parliamentary term resulted in the Liberal Party gaining a majority of one seat in parliament in 2013, allowing Matsuda to briefly lead a majority government. The Liberals entered the 2014 federal election campaign in the lead, but a late surge by the Social Democrats resulted in another hung parliament result and the Liberal Party losing its plurality. After failing to gain the support of crossbench parties, Matsuda resigned as prime minister and party leader, and as MP shortly after.
Evaluations of Matsuda's prime ministership have been mixed, but generally positive. She is one of Enderron's most personally popular leaders in modern times, recording consistently high personal approval ratings throughout her time in office. She has been praised for modernising and unifying the Liberal Party after several years of unstable leadership, and she is credited with moving the party in a more socially liberal and libertarian direction. However, her government's austerity measures and significant cuts to public spending to reduce the national deficit have been criticised for being overly severe, and some scholars have seen her government as a lost opportunity for more social and economic reform, especially in the latter half of her tenure.