Claire Elizabeth Szabó is a New Zealand chief executive officer and was president of the

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party, also known simply as Labour (), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descri ...

from 2019 to 2022.

Biography

Her father came to New Zealand as a refugee from

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

in 1956 following the Hungarian Uprising, her mother was a nurse. She grew up in

Papakura Papakura is a suburb of South Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately south of the Auckland CBD, Auckland City Centre. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council. The ar ...

in a council house. After finishing her high school education at Diocesan School for Girls in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, she studied music at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

and later gained degrees at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

in Education Management,

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

in Commerce and Administration, and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in Public Administration. In 2006, aged 27, she became the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of English Language Partners New Zealand. In 2013, she became the chief executive officer of

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a U.S. non-governmental, and tax-exempt 501(C)(3) Christian nonprofit organization which seeks to build affordable housing. The international ...

New Zealand. In 2010, she was both named young executive of the year and won the New Zealand Institute of Management award. Szabó joined the Labour Party in 2007 and stood as the Labour candidate in the electorate of at the , and was number 38 on the

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

. She was defeated by the incumbent,

Maggie Barry Margaret Mary Barry (born 5 October 1959), generally known as Maggie Barry, is a New Zealand radio and television presenter and politician. As a member of the National Party Barry was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2011 gen ...

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

by a margin of 16,503 votes. On 30 November 2019, she was elected President of the Labour Party following the resignation of

Nigel Haworth Nigel Anthony Fell Haworth (born 1951) is a New Zealand economics academic and politician. He was elected President of the New Zealand Labour Party in February 2015, succeeding Moira Coatsworth. Education and academic career Born in Wales in 1 ...

earlier that year. In 2021, Szabó was appointed to the board of the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony ...

, alongside

Chris Finlayson Christopher Francis Finlayson (born 1956) is a New Zealand lawyer and former Member of Parliament, representing the National Party. He was elected to Parliament in 2005. In the Fifth National Government, from 2008 to 2017, he was Attorney-G ...

. On 17 June 2022, Szabó announced that she will not seek re-election to the Labour Party presidency at the November 2022 annual conference, and will end her tenure then. She told ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...

'' that she has reflected on standing for Parliament again at the 2023 general election, but said "I know definitively it's too early to make a decision." She was succeeded by Jill Day, the former Deputy Mayor of Wellington, at the party's conference in November 2022. In February 2023, Szabó was one of four candidates vying for the Labour nomination in for the . She was unsuccessful with list MP Ibrahim Omer winning the selection contest.

Personal life

She is married to Rowan Johnston, a choir conductor, and has two children. Szabó speaks fluent Hungarian, the mother tongue of her father.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szabó, Claire Living people New Zealand people of Hungarian descent University of Auckland alumni Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand chief executives Unsuccessful candidates in the 2014 New Zealand general election New Zealand Labour Party politicians 21st-century New Zealand women politicians New Zealand feminists Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Harvard Kennedy School alumni Year of birth missing (living people) People from Papakura