Kiri Allan

Kiritapu Allan (born 1983/84) is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party.

Kiri Allan

MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Labour party list
Assumed office
23 September 2017
Personal details
Born
Kiritapu Allan

1983/1984 (age 36–37)[1]
Te Karaka, New Zealand
Political partyLabour
Spouse(s)Natalie Coates[2]
Children1[2]
ProfessionLawyer

Early life

Allan was born in Te Karaka,[3] of Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent. She grew up in Paengaroa.[4] She is part of a family of 10 children.[5]

She dropped out of high school at 16. She worked at a KFC franchise in West Auckland (she joined the Service and Foodworkers Union at that time) and as a cherry picker.[4]

She studied law and politics at Victoria University of Wellington.[6] During her university studies she worked in an internship with then-Prime Minister Helen Clark.[1]

Career before politics

She worked for a period at law firm ChenPalmer.[6] Later she was a commercial lawyer at and business consultant in Whakatane before she became a politician.[3]

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2017–present 52nd List 21 Labour

Allan stood for Labour in the East Coast electorate in the 2017 election and was placed 21 on Labour's party list.[7] Allan did not win the electorate (she came second to Anne Tolley), but entered Parliament via the Party list.[8]

In 2018, Allan launched the political podcast Authorised By with Chlöe Swarbrick.[9]

She is Labour's junior whip, and a member of various Select Committees, including the Epidemic Response Committee.[10]

At the end of 2018, Allan was labelled a strong performer among backbenchers in Parliament.[11]

Personal life

She married her wife, Natalie Coates, in 2016 after marriage equality was legalised in New Zealand.[4]

Her family had a baby at a similar time to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and Allan brought the baby to Parliament.[12]

References
  1. Malone, Audrey (27 January 2017). "Labour East Coast candidate Kiritapu Allan says National stalwart's time is up". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  2. Malone, Audrey (20 January 2018). "Ardern's baby already has friends in high places". Stuff.co.nz.
  3. "Candidate Allan ranks 20 on Labour list". Gisborne Herald. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  4. Allan, Kiri (16 November 2017). "'Nana, I stand here to honour your name': Kiri Allan's maiden speech". The Spinoff. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  5. "Labour MP Kiritapu Allan says 'there's ugliness in the shadows' but she has 'real hope' for NZ's future". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  6. Sachdeva, Sam (22 September 2017). "Fighting for a future on the East Coast". Newsroom. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  7. "Revised Labour Party List for the 2017 Election". Scoop.co.nz. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  8. "Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. 23 September 2017. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  9. "KFC, babies, and tax – the new political podcast 'Authorised By'". Stuff. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  10. "Allan, Kiritapu – New Zealand Parliament". Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  11. Shane, Te Pou (21 December 2018). "Marking the politicians of 2018". Newsroom. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  12. "Parliament's new parents Willow-Jean Prime and Kiri Allan pass on congratulations to PM and partner". The New Zealand Herald. 18 January 2018. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.