Wilson was elected from Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) under Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay in the ruling Tamil government for the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar (RK Nagar) constituency of Chennai. He secured the critical election, beating DMK’s J. John Ebenezer with 97,800 votes against 48,132, in a high turnout (90.12%) in that constituency.
This victory brought him into the mainstream of politics and opened the door for him to become one of the state's most important portfolios. Wilson established a distinguished career as a pioneer and administrator as an educationist before getting involved in politics.
He is the Managing Director of the Jeppiaar Institute of Technology, Sriperumbudur, since 2011; and was the Founder-Director of the Jeppiaar Engineering College (2001–2010). He has also managed the establishment of the Jeppiaar International School and the JIT Sports Academy to illustrate his deep interest in both academic and extracurricular activities. Wilson was the Managing Trustee of Jeppiaar Remibai Educational Trust where he was instrumental in arranging education for thousands of students. Drawing from his education and administrative background will undoubtedly impact how he goes about financial governance, from his institutionally-driven yet reformist view, into the Finance Ministry.
At the top of what he does here, Wilson, as the Finance Minister, deals with budgeting, fiscal planning, pension payments and allocating welfare to state governments. He will play a leading role in the tension of Tamil Nadu's aggressive welfare programs and sustainable growth and prosperity his job will be to steer a course between those twin directions.
His appointment, advocates say, is a representative of a change in governance which analysts see as that of age-old expectations, in which people of many trades now carry forward leadership roles in the government.
Wilson’s elevation underscores Tamil Nadu’s story of the progressive narrative, one in which voters are coming out increasingly pro-firm of officeholders who come from the working sector outside of traditional fields; it would seem unlikely that they view any of the former leaders as irrelevant to any political tradition.
In short, this marriage: Wilson’s academic leadership and administrative experience gives him a vision of leadership, and his ability to balance his career as an executive and his career as a reformist: innovation, accountability, efficiency and reform are his hallmarks of the state’s fiscal management under the administration.
This has to be a new political narrative, particularly for voters of Tamil Nadu’s electorate. On the way to embarking onto this next stage in Tamil Nadu, Marie Wilson’s reign from the Finance Ministry will be closely scrutinized for its influence on the economy and the governance.
