Yvonne Jones has set a new record this week, surpassing Lynn Verge as the longest sitting female member of Newfoundland and Labrador's legislature.

Yvonne Jones has represented the Labrador district of Cartwright-L'Anse au Claire since 1996. (CBC)

The former Liberal leader and cancer survivor says her greatest accomplishment was the construction of a new highway for Labrador.

Jones, who represents the southern Labrador district of Cartwright-L'Anse au Claire, ran as an Independent in 1996 and defeated the Liberal incumbent. She later joined the Liberal caucus and has been re-elected in every election since.

During her first campaign, Jones had to use a snowmobile to get around the district. By her third campaign, she could drive to most communities on the new Trans-Labrador Highway.

The roadway is still a central focus.

"I guess the next piece for me is to try to and get that road paved, and that's what I'm doing now, 16 years later," said Jones.

Jones led the party from November 2007 until August 2011, when she stepped down as leader to focus on treatment for breast cancer. She ran in that fall's election, easily winning re-election in her district.

Verge, a Progressive Conservative who represented Humber East between 1979 and 1996, had been a cabinet minister in the Brian Peckford government. She led the Tories from April 1995 until the February 1996 election, when she was defeated in her own district.