Margarita Ester Zavala Gómez del Campo[1] (Spanish pronunciation: [maɾɣaˈɾita saˈβala]; born on 25 July 1967) is a Mexican lawyer and politician serving as Member of the Chamber of Deputies for Mexico City's 10th District since 2021.

Zavala studied law at the Escuela Libre de Derecho,[2] where she graduated with a 9.5 (out of ten) grade point average.

[3] Her thesis, La Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos: antecedentes, estructura y propuestas, was on the National Human Rights Commission.

[10] Margarita's primary objective in the changing Mexican government was to help her newly elected husband run the educational programs throughout the country.

[11] As the wife of Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico during 2006-2012, Margarita Zavala was considered "First Lady" although such function is not defined by the legal framework.

She served as president of the civic advisory board to the Desarrollo Integral de la Familia, a government agency that promotes child and family development.

[14] During her husband's administration her family was involved in corruption scandals, including a privately run, publicly funded day care facility in Hermosillo, Mexico, which caught fire on June 5, 2009, resulting in the death of 49 children.

It later became known that the facility never met safety standards, and among the owners was Marcia Matilde Altagracia Gómez del Campo Tonella, a cousin of the first lady.

Though she was not found guilty by a jury, many people question a possible interference from the executive branch of the government given the family ties.

[15] Moreover, her brother's company, Diego Hildebrando Zavala, was awarded some public contracts both during the administration of Felipe Calderón, and before when he was Secretary of Energy, an issue which some[who?]

They also accused her of misappropriation of public money from the party's budget, and nepotism as she appointed her own sister, Teresa Gomez del Campo to the local Mexican Youth Institute, known by its acronym in Spanish IMJUVE with a monthly salary of $28,125 pesos which is almost the double of an average salary in Mexico City.

[23] In January 2015, Zavala formally registered as a pre-candidate for a term as a Federal Deputy, through the means of proportional representation in the fourth electoral region, stating that Mexico required a Congress capable of balancing power.

[33] While attending the Guadalajara International Book Fair, she was asked for the three books that impacted her life (commonly asked to presidential candidates), to which she answered: the Bible, The Price of My Soul by Bernadette Devlin and Caudillos culturales en la Revolución Mexicana by Enrique Krauze.

[12] Following the Supreme Court's June 2015 declaration of state laws defining marriage as unconstitutional, Zavala was asked her stance on the matter in an interview on Al Punto to which she responded: the Court has been clear on same-sex marriage, including on a previous challenge to Mexico City's civil code, various resolutions make it jurisprudence and "I do not have any problem".