After a career in teaching and business, she was a National Party member of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2005 to 2020, when she retired.

Born in Christchurch, one of three children to a teacher mother and engineer father, Wagner grew up in Cashmere.

She was an internet pioneer establishing firstly FashioNZ (a website to support the New Zealand fashion industry) and then GardenNZ.

She lost convincingly to the incumbent, Tim Barnett, and National's overall poor result meant she was not elected as a list MP.

The by-election to fill the vacancies was held in April 2003 and won by Wagner and former National Party Member of Parliament Alec Neill.

[3][4][5] When Wagner received a high list ranking for the 2005 general election, there was concern whether she could do justice to both being a regional councillor and a member of parliament.

We will always respect and cherish our links with the past that are represented in our present flag but a young country needs to create a strong vision for its future.

When the draft boundaries were published for consultation, Wagner declared the electorate as more Labour-focussed and "unwinnable" due to the proposed loss of more affluent suburbs.

[10] On 14 June 2017, Wagner made a comment on Twitter that she'd "rather be out on the harbour" while mentioning that she was attending disability meetings, attracting online criticism.

Labour and Green politicians commented on the issue, stating "It really makes me question her commitment to the disability community if she'd rather be out on the harbour than in meetings with them.