Ginny Andersen

Virginia Ruby Andersen[1][2][3] is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party.

Ginny Andersen MP
Andersen speaking in 2017
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Labour party list
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 September 2017
Vice-President of the New Zealand Labour Party
In office 2015–2017
President	Nigel Haworth
Preceded by	Robert Gallagher
Succeeded by	Beth Houston
Personal details
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Geoff Gwyn
Relations	Bill Andersen (great-uncle)
Children	Four
Alma mater	University of Canterbury
Website	Labour Party profile

Personal life

Andersen lives in Belmont, Lower Hutt[4] and worked for the New Zealand Police as a policy unit manager from 2006 to 2017.[1] Her great-uncle was Bill Andersen, a noted activist and trade union leader.[5] Prior to working for the Police, Andersen worked at the Office of Treaty Settlements and was also a private secretary and senior political adviser in Parliament to several Labour MPs including Trevor Mallard, David Cunliffe, Mark Burton, and Margaret Wilson.[6]

Political career

Andersen stood in the electorate of Ōhāriu at the 2014 election, and was only narrowly defeated by the long-standing incumbent, Peter Dunne of United Future by a margin of just 610 votes (1.91%).[7][1] Andersen served as the Labour Party's Vice-President from 2015 to 2017 when she stood down in order to focus on her parliamentary candidacy.[1]

Member of parliament

New Zealand Parliament
Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
2017–present	52nd	List	28	Labour

In October 2016, Andersen was selected as Labour's candidate for the electorate of Hutt South for the 2017 election against Hutt City Councillor Campbell Barry and list candidate Sarah Packer.[1] She replaced long-serving member of parliament Trevor Mallard as the Labour Party candidate who had, in July of that year, stated he would serve as a list-only candidate for the election with the intention of becoming Speaker of the House.[3][1][2][8] In the last election Mallard had won Hutt South by only 709 votes (1.83%) over National's candidate, Chris Bishop.[9] Andersen was ranked 28 on Labour's party list, an increase of 9 from 2014.[10] While Andersen lost the Hutt South election to Bishop, she entered parliament via the Party list under New Zealand's MMP electoral system.[11]

Andersen is Labour's Hutt South candidate for the 2020 New Zealand general election, however has dropped 19 places to 47 on Labour's list.[12]

References

1. "Labour selects former Ohariu candidate Virginia Andersen to run in Hutt South electorate". stuff.co.nz. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
2. "2017 Candidates". New Zealand Labour Party. Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
3. "Ginny Andersen". New Zealand Labour Party. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
4. Upper Hutt Leader, 2 Aug 2017 https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/upper-hutt-leader/20170802/281840053747806
5. Smith, Mike (11 May 2014). "Ginny Andersen a rising star electorate". The Standard. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
6. "Labour announces Ohariu candidate". Radio New Zealand. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
7. "Official Count Results – Ōhāriu". Electoral Commission. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
8. Boyack, Nicholas (25 July 2016). "Labour MP Trevor Mallard vacates Hutt South electorate to apply for Speaker position". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
9. "Official Count Results – Hutt South". Electoral Commission. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
10. "Revised Labour Party List for the 2017 Election". Scoop.co.nz. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
11. "Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
12. "Labour announces list for 2020 Election". New Zealand Labour Party. Retrieved 3 July 2020.

Party political offices
Preceded by Robert Gallagher	Vice-President of the New Zealand Labour Party 2015–2017	Succeeded by Beth Houston