Ruth Dyson
Ruth Dyson | |
---|---|
![]() Ruth Dyson in 2011 | |
28th President of the Labour Party | |
In office 1988–1993 | |
Leader | David Lange Geoffrey Palmer Mike Moore |
Preceded by | Rex Jones |
Succeeded by | Maryan Street |
Minister for Senior Citizens | |
In office 28 January 2003 – 19 November 2008 | |
Prime Minister | Helen Clark |
Preceded by | Lianne Dalziel |
Succeeded by | John Carter |
Minister for ACC | |
In office 15 August 2002 – 5 November 2007 | |
Prime Minister | Helen Clark |
Preceded by | Lianne Dalziel |
Succeeded by | Maryan Street |
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Lyttelton | |
In office 1993–1996 | |
Preceded by | Gail McIntosh |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Labour party list | |
In office 1996–1999 | |
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Banks Peninsula | |
In office 1999–2008 | |
Preceded by | David Carter |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Majority | 1,923 (4.78%) |
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Port Hills | |
Assumed office 2008 | |
Preceded by | New constituency |
Majority | 3,452 (9.58%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Ruth Suzanne Dyson 11 August 1957 Wellington, New Zealand |
Political party | Labour Party |
Occupation | Politician |
Ruth Suzanne Dyson (born 11 August 1957) is a New Zealand politician. She is a member of the Labour Party and has been a Member of Parliament since 1993. Since the 2008 election, she has represented the Port Hills electorate.
Early years
Dyson was born in Lower Hutt. Her father served in the New Zealand Army, and so Dyson's family frequently moved around the country. Dyson joined the Labour Party in Westport in 1979, and worked as a campaign organiser for Labour MP Kerry Burke in the 1981 and 1984 election. In 1985, she moved to Wellington, where she worked with Labour MP Fran Wilde on the Homosexual Law Reform Bill. She worked for Wilde's re-election campaign in the 1987 election, and later held a number of senior offices in the Labour Party, including that of president.[1]
Member of Parliament
Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993–1996 | 44th | Lyttelton | Labour | ||
1996–1999 | 45th | List | 19 | Labour | |
1999–2002 | 46th | Banks Peninsula | 15 | Labour | |
2002–2005 | 47th | Banks Peninsula | 22 | Labour | |
2005–2008 | 48th | Banks Peninsula | 14 | Labour | |
2008–2011 | 49th | Port Hills | 14 | Labour | |
2011–2014 | 50th | Port Hills | 5 | Labour | |
2014–2017 | 51st | Port Hills | none | Labour | |
2017–present | 52nd | Port Hills | 24 | Labour |
Dyson first entered Parliament in the 1993 election, winning the Lyttelton electorate against National's David Carter.[2] In the 1996 election, the Lyttelton electorate was abolished, and Dyson stood in Banks Peninsula, losing to Carter, who had in the meantime become an MP through winning the 1994 Selwyn by-election. She became a list MP owing to her position on the Labour Party's list. In the 1999 election, however, she defeated Carter to win Banks Peninsula. She has remained the MP for the area since that time; however before the 2008 election the boundaries were changed and it was renamed Port Hills.
When the Labour Party won power in the 1999 general election, Dyson was appointed to a number of minor ministerial roles, including Disability Issues and Associate Health and Associate Social Development. However, she resigned them on 31 October 2000 after being caught drink driving.[3] She regained most of her ministerial responsibilities on 4 June 2001.[4]
In a reshuffle on 31 October 2007, Dyson took on the portfolio of Social Development, which she held until the Clark government lost power at the 2008 general election. Despite the swing against Labour at that election, Dyson won her new electorate of Port Hills with an increased margin than that of Banks Peninsula.[5][6]
In December 2009 Dyson's Resource Management (Requiring Authorities) Amendment Bill, which would amend the Resource Management Act 1991 to reintroduce a public interest test for projects seeking requiring authority, was drawn from the member's ballot.[7] The bill was defeated at its first reading.[7]
Dyson was re-elected as the MP for Port Hills at the 2011 general election. She is currently the Labour spokesperson for Conservation, Senior Citizens, and Internal Affairs and chairs the Parliamentary Select Committee on Government Administration .[1] When Lianne Dalziel confirmed that she would contest the 2013 Christchurch mayoralty, her Christchurch Earthquake Recovery portfolio was split and assigned to Dyson and Clayton Cosgrove in July 2013.[8]
Dyson contested the 2014 election against Nuk Korako of the National Party and chose not to be placed on Labour's party list.[9] Based on preliminary counts, Dyson has a majority of 1,865 votes over Korako.[9]
Following the formation of the Sixth Labour Government in 2017, Dyson was elected Labour's Senior Whip.[10]
References
- ^ a b "Ruth Dyson".
- ^ Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). Chief Electoral Office. 1993.
- ^ Small, Vernon (1 November 2000). "$9.50 cab ride would have saved Dyson". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
- ^ "Dyson gets all her portfolios back". Television New Zealand. 5 June 2001. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
- ^ Port Hills results 2008
- ^ Decision 08: Port Hills
- ^ a b "Resource Management (Requiring Authorities) Amendment Bill". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
- ^ Cairns, Lois (11 July 2013). "Two MPs to take over Dalziel's portfolio". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
- ^ a b Mathewson, Nicole; Stylianou, Georgina; Fulton, Tim (20 September 2014). "Labour's Dyson keeps Port Hills". The Press. Archived from the original on 23 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Bracewell-Worrall, Anna (30 October 2017). "Ruth Dyson selected as Government whip". NewsHub. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Use dmy dates from November 2011
- 1957 births
- Living people
- New Zealand Labour Party MPs
- Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
- Women government ministers of New Zealand
- People from Lower Hutt
- New Zealand list MPs
- New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates
- Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
- People associated with the 2011 Christchurch earthquake
- 21st-century New Zealand politicians
- 21st-century women politicians
- Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
- Candidates in the New Zealand general election, 2017