After leaving Parliament, she co-founded the short-lived Federation of Democrats (FD) with Louis Green and her husband, Kevin Southgate.
[1] During the legislative term, she was a member of the parliamentary delegation that observed the 2002 Zimbabwean presidential election; Southgate deviated from the government's position in telling Parliament that her conscience prevented her from endorsing the election as free and fair.
[3] In a 2003 parliamentary debate, she caused a stir by gagging herself during her allotted speaking time in a protest against parliamentary rules; she said that the rules had "systematically silenced the ACDP", a minor party, insofar as speaking time was allotted in proportion to parties' electoral support.
[5][6] The party gained representation in the National Assembly when Louis Green, another ACDP member, crossed the floor in September 2007.
[8] Ahead of the 2009 general election, the FD entered into talks with the Christian Democratic Party and other small conservative parties, leading ultimately to the formation of the Christian Democratic Alliance.