The new faces of New Zealand's 53rd Parliament

October 21, 2020
New Zealand's Parliament buildings.

New faces make up a third of New Zealand's 53rd Parliament, after the election saw a flurry of electorate seats change hands and party votes pulling in additional MPs across the House. 

These are based on preliminary results - the official results will be released November 6, which will include special votes that are estimated to make up 17 per cent of the vote. This means some MPs listed may not be part of Parliament. 

The candidates below are in order of party list ranking. 

Māori Party

Rawiri Waititi (Waiariki)

A member of the Ringatū faith, the former funding adviser for Creative New Zealand pipped Labour's Tāmati Coffey by just 415 votes in the preliminary results for the Waiariki seat. He told 1 NEWS he wanted to see changes to the Māori Electoral Roll.

Green Party

Teanau Tuiono

According to E-Tangata, Tuiono will be the Greens' first Cook Islands-Māori MP. The activist and former Ministry of Education worker says he's "passionate about justice for people and the planet".

Elizabeth Kerekere

Dr Kerekere is an activist and researcher on issues focused around on kaupapa Māori and Te Tiriti.

Ricardo Menéndez March

Ricardo Menendez March joined TVNZ 1’s Breakfast to discuss the issue of hardship grants.

Menéndez March worked for Auckland Action Against Poverty. He told RNZ he grew up about 150 metres from the Mexico-US border.

National Party

Nicola Grigg (Selwyn)

Grigg was a former journalist, before working as Sir Bill English's press secretary while he was Finance and Prime Minister. She also worked for Simon Bridges. She replaces former MP Amy Adams. Before coming to Parliament, Grigg was a portfolio manager at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

Christopher Luxon (Botany)

The former Air NZ CEO won the Botany electorate at the 2020 election.

Former Air NZ CEO Christopher Luxon took the Botany seat from former National MP Jami-Lee Ross. He announced his resignation from Air NZ in June last year – sparking a flurry of speculation over his political intentions. The move saw Luxon's first appearance with one per cent as preferred Prime Minister in the  1 NEWS Colmar Brunton Poll in July  2019.

Joseph Mooney (Southland)

A former senior trial lawyer, Mooney takes over from Hamish Walker for the seat of Southland. He was also formally an Army reserve and volunteer firefighter.

Penny Simmonds (Invercargill)

Simmonds was the chief executive of Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) since 1997 and was chair of Hockey Southland for 10 years. 

Simon Watts (North Shore)

Watts is a chartered accountant and was the deputy chief financial officer at the Waitemata District Health Board.

ACT Party

Brooke van Velden

ACT’s deputy leader says nothing can prepare someone for what Parliament is like.

Van Veldon told media on Monday she had a taste of what it was like working in Parliament behind the scenes for leader David Seymour in the last Parliamentary term, spending a significant amount of time on the End of Life Choice Act. Prior to that, the 28-year-old deputy ACT leader worked as a corporate affairs consultant.

Nicole McKee

McKee is a gun lobbyist, owns her own firearms safety training business, was a shooting champion and was the spokesperson for the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO).

Chris Baillie

Baillie was a secondary teacher in Nelson and owned a hospitality venue. 

Simon Court

Court was formally an engineer. He told the NZ Herald his son has Down syndrome and he wants to take a perspective of the disability community into Parliament. 

James McDowall

McDowall owns an immigration law firm, lives in Hamilton and worked on ACT's firearm policy.

Karen Chhour

Chhour comes from Auckland's North Shore and is a self-employed mother of four, according to the ACT website. 

Mark Cameron

Cameron is a dairy farmer from Ruawai, Northland, and is ACT's spokesperson for rural issues. 

Toni Severin

The former lab technician comes from Christchurch East and is a licensed firearm owner.

Damien Smith

Smith was a former business banker and lives with his daughter in Orakei, Auckland.

Labour Party

Ayesha Verrall

It includes a new name you may be familiar with, Dr Ayesha Verrall.

Dr Verrall is an infectious diseases physician who grew up in Te Anau. She attended medical school at the University of Otago and worked as a junior doctor at Wellington Hospital.

Vanushi Walters (Upper Harbour)

Walters is local to West Auckland, with three generations of her family living together there. The connection gives her a passion to serve her local community, Labour says.

Camilla Belich

Belich is an employment lawyer who Labour says has been standing up for others since she was a teenager.

Naisi Chen

Chen arrived in New Zealand from Beijing when she was five and is the director of a business consultancy firm specialising in employment relations and HR matters.

Ibrahim Omer

Omer left his home country of Eritrea in 2003, making the dangerous border crossing to neighbouring Sudan.

He spent years in UN-run refugee camps, where he worked as an interpreter until being detained on suspicion of being a spy. It was only when the UN stepped in that he was rescued and offered the chance to come to New Zealand.

Rachel Brooking

Labour says Brooking is an environmental and local government expert, company director, working mum and lover of NZ fashion.

Helen White

White is a barrister with over 25 years experience in employment law and has become a leading voice in advocating for workers' rights.

Barbara Edmonds

Edmonds is a mother of eight, a specialist tax lawyer and a self-described community fanatic. Titahi Bay, Porirua, has been home to Edmonds, her husband Chris (Nga Puhi) and their eight children for the last 12 years.

Angela Roberts

Roberts is a secondary teacher in central Taranaki and past president of the PPTA Te Wehengarua.

Shanan Halbert (Northcote)

Halbert is chair of the Birkdale Beach Haven Community Project – promoting the community’s well-being - and says he loves Northcote for many reasons.

Neru Leavasa (Takanini)

Dr Leavasa has lived in South Auckland for over 30 years. He is married and has a seven-year-old son.

Tracey McLellan (Banks Peninsula)

McLellan attended the University of Canterbury, where she graduated with a PhD in psychology and worked for a number of years in clinical research.

Steph Lewis (Whanganui)

Lewis was born in Whanganui and grew up between Kaitoke Prison village, where her dad worked as a prison officer, and her family’s farm in Waverley.

Rachel Boyack (Nelson)

Boyack lives in Nelson with her husband Scott, and works as a health and safety coordinator for the Anglican Diocese of Nelson.

Arena Williams (Manuwera)

Williams (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi Tūhoe) is a lawyer and mother of two who has served as a member of the Waitematā District Health Board and on the Unitec Institute of Technology's Te Rūnanga advisory group.

Ingrid Leary (Taieri)

Labour says Leary has a strong, passionate voice representing the workers, beneficiaries, business people, superannuitants and farmers.

Sarah Pallett (Ilam)

Pallett lives in Ilam with her partner, Andy. She moved to Christchurch in 2004 and is a midwifery lecturer at Ara Institute of Technology, having previously worked as a community midwife.

Gaurav Sharma (Hamilton West)

Sharma works as a general practitioner in Nawton and lives in Frankton. He studied medicine at the University of Auckland Medical School and did part of his training in Waikato-Bay of Plenty region.

Terisa Ngobi (Ōtaki)

Born, raised and educated in Levin, Ngobi is a proud Horowhenua local of Samoan and Scottish descent.

Glen Bennett (New Plymouth)

Labour says Bennett has 20 years of work in the community and is committed to ensuring all members of his community feel they belong.

Tangi Utikere (Palmerston North)

Utikere is a former secondary school teacher and is experienced in local government.

Anna Lorck (Tukituki)

Lorck has been a small business owner for 18 years and lives in Hastings with her husband Damon and their family of five daughters.

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