Manning was appointed to cabinet by Premier Paul Davis despite not holding a seat in the House of Assembly.
[7] Manning's appointment to cabinet was subject to criticism due to her not being an elected Member of the House of Assembly and because she was unwilling to seek a seat in three by-elections.
Davis said he had originally planned on calling a spring election but that was delayed till the fall by his government's decision to remove eight seats from the House of Assembly.
It was later reported that when Manning was appointed to cabinet she and Davis were under the impression that Collins would resign his seat in the near future, creating a by-election for her to run in.
However, Collins did not resign his seat and he found himself back in cabinet as Attorney General after Manning's departure due to him being the only lawyer within caucus.