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Tracey McLellan

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Tracey McLellan
MP
McLellan in 2023
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Labour Party list
Incumbent
Assumed office
29 January 2024
Preceded byRino Tirikatene
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Banks Peninsula
In office
17 October 2020 – 14 October 2023
Preceded byRuth Dyson (as MP for Port Hills)
Succeeded byVanessa Weenink
Vice-president of the New Zealand Labour Party
In office
20 May 2019 – 7 May 2021
Preceded byBeth Houston
Succeeded byCarol Beaumont
Personal details
Born (1970-05-20) 20 May 1970 (age 54)
Political partyLabour
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Canterbury

Tracey Lee McLellan (born 20 May 1970) is a New Zealand politician. From 2020 to 2023, she was a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party.[1] In 2024, she re-entered parliament after the resignation of fellow Labour List MP Rino Tirikatene.[2]

Early life

[edit]

McLellan was born in Sydney, Australia in May 1970, before moving to Southland, where she grew up in a state house. Her mother was disabled and unable to work.[3] McLellan moved to Christchurch in 2002. McLellan has a master's degree from Massey University,[4] and a PhD in psychology from the University of Canterbury[5] and worked in academic psychology specialising in sports injuries and concussion, as a research scientist at the University of Canterbury. Later she became a union organiser for the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.[6][7]

Political career

[edit]
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2020–2023 53rd Banks Peninsula 53 Labour
2024–present 54th List 27 Labour

McLellan has been a member of the Labour Party since 2011. She was chair of the electorate committee and was joint campaign manager to Ruth Dyson's campaign in the Port Hills electorate at the 2014 election.[6][7] In May 2019 she won a by-election to become vice president of the Labour Party. Following Nigel Haworth's resignation over his handling of abuse allegations within the party, McLellan (who was a member of a panel which dismissed initial complaints) became acting party president.[8]

She was selected as its candidate for the Banks Peninsula electorate in November 2019, ahead of three other nominees: Reuben Davidson, Joe Davies and Tyrone Fields.[7] In January 2020, McLellan identified ACC and health as portfolios in which she would like to make a difference, but says that her electorate has diverse needs from climate change effects in Sumner and Lyttelton, to education, health, housing and water issues.[3]

During the 2020 general election held on 17 October, McLellan was elected with a majority of 13,156 over National's Catherine Chu and Green Party Member of Parliament Eugenie Sage.[9]

In 2023 general election McLellan led the contest for Banks Peninsula on the election night preliminary count, but lost the seat to National's Vanessa Weenink after special votes were counted.[10][11] She was ranked 27th on Labour's party list, too low to win a list seat given Labour's collapse in the election, and so left Parliament.[12]

In late January 2024 she returned to parliament as a List MP following the resignation of Rino Tirikatene.[13] Following the resignation of Grant Robertson in mid-February 2024, McLellan assumed the Corrections and Associate Health portfolios in the Shadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins.[14][15]

Family

[edit]

McLellan is a single mother to two sons. One son, Jake, was elected a member of the Christchurch City Council in 2019. She credits her son with pushing her to join the Labour Party.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Election 2020: The 40 diverse new MPs entering Parliament". Newstalk ZB. 18 October 2020. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020 – via The New Zealand Herald.
  2. ^ "Labour's Rino Tirikatene retires from politics". Radio NZ. 26 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "The Sure Things: Tracey McLellan". Newsroom. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  4. ^ McLellan, Tracey (2002). New Zealand women's preference for treatment decision-making when considering hormone replacement therapy (Masters thesis). Massey Research Online, Massey University. hdl:10179/10982.
  5. ^ McLellan, Tracey (2008). Sensitivity to Emotion Specified in Facial Expressions and the Impact of Aging and Alzheimer's Disease (Doctoral thesis). UC Research Repository, University of Canterbury. doi:10.26021/7757. hdl:10092/1979.
  6. ^ a b "Labour selects Dr Tracey McLellan for Banks Peninsula seat". Scoop.co.nz. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Law, Tina (24 November 2019). "Labour selects Tracey McLellan as 2020 Port Hills candidate". Stuff. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  8. ^ McCulloch, Craig (16 September 2019). "Labour abuse allegations investigator brings in computer expert". Radio NZ. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  9. ^ "Banks Peninsula – Official Result". Electoral Commission. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  10. ^ Kerr-Laurie, Brett (4 November 2023). "McLellan out after special votes were counted". The Post. Stuff. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  11. ^ "Banks Peninsula – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  12. ^ "2023 General Election - Official Result". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Declaration by Electoral Commission That Tracey Lee McLellan is Elected a Member of Parliament". New Zealand Gazette. 29 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Labour reshuffle: Edmonds moves up as Finance spokesperson". Radio New Zealand. 20 February 2024. Archived from the original on 20 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  15. ^ "Grant Robertson retires from politics, appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Otago". The New Zealand Herald. 20 February 2024. Archived from the original on 19 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
New Zealand Parliament
Vacant
Constituency recreated after abolition in 2008
Title last held by
Ruth Dyson 		Member of Parliament for Banks Peninsula
2020–2023 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
Beth Houston
 Vice-President of the New Zealand Labour Party
2019–2021 		Succeeded by
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