During that time, she served briefly as the Northern Cape's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism from May to June 2017: she was appointed in a controversial cabinet reshuffle which the ANC later obliged Premier Sylvia Lucas to reverse.
[1] In 1991, she moved to Kimberley to work in the education portfolio at Sadtu's provincial headquarters.
In the middle of the term, on 10 May 2017, Sylvia Lucas, then the Premier of the Northern Cape, announced a controversial cabinet reshuffle which saw Parker join the Northern Cape Executive Council as MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, replacing Mac Jack.
[3] The Northern Cape branch of the ANC said that it had not been consulted about the reshuffle and responded with "absolute disgust", calling the reshuffle "grossly irresponsible, reckless and self-serving" and alleging that it constituted an attempt by Lucas to influence the outcomes of a party elective conference scheduled for the next weekend.
[6] Parker did not seek re-election to the provincial legislature in 2019,[2] but instead became the technical adviser to the Northern Cape MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison.