Darroch Leicester Ball (born 1982) is a New Zealand politician who was elected to the New Zealand parliament at the 2014 general election as a representative of New Zealand First. He was the party's interim president from December 2020 to July 2021.

Early life

Ball was born and raised in Auckland. He attended

Liston College Liston College is a school in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand, for year seven to 13 boys and offers a Catholic education to its students. It was the second school opened by the Christian Brothers in Auckland. It was named after Archbishop Li ...

(1996–1999) in

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...

, before graduating with a bachelor's degree majoring in biological science from the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. He was an army officer and then became a science teacher at Waiopehu College. He is on the board of trustees of Linton Camp School.

Political career

Ball was the NZ First electorate committee vice-chairman in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

. In October 2013, he was elected the party's vice-president for the North Island. He stood in the Palmerston North electorate in the 2014 election and was elected from the New Zealand First list, where he was ranked 10th. His party spokesperson portfolios have included "Research, Science and Technology," "Social Policy/Welfare," Civil Defence and Emergency Issues, Consumer Affairs, and Youth Affairs. Ball hosts a weekly radio programme about New Zealand politics on Access Manawatu, his local

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popula ...

station. In the 2017 general election, Ball contested Palmerston North again. He came third and was re-elected into Parliament on the New Zealand First party list. In the 2020 general election held on 17 October, Ball unsuccessfully contested Palmerston North, coming fifth. He and his fellow NZ First MPs lost their seats after the party's vote dropped to 2.6%, below the five percent threshold needed to enter Parliament. Two months after the election, NZ First president Kristin Campbell-Smith resigned, and Ball became the party's interim president, saying he expected to hold the role until the party's 2021 annual general meeting. Julian Paul was elected as the permanent president when the AGM was held in June 2021. Ball put himself forward as a candidate in a by-election for a seat on the

Palmerston North City Council Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

in February 2021, but was unsuccessful, coming third. In early January 2021, Ball became the co-leader of the victims advocacy group Sensible Sentencing Trust. As leader of the trust, Ball criticised the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

Co-Leader and minister

Marama Davidson Marama Mere-Ana Davidson (née Paratene; born 1973) is a New Zealand politician who entered the New Zealand Parliament in 2015 as a representative of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, of which she is the female co-leader. In October 2 ...

for attending a function hosted by the

Mongrel Mob The Mongrel Mob (sometimes self-labelled as the Mighty Mongrel Mob or colloquially known as the Mob) is an organised street gang and Prison gang based in New Zealand. With a network of more than thirty chapters throughout the country and additio ...

gang.

References

External links

1999 photo
from

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Darroch 1982 births Living people New Zealand First MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand list MPs People educated at Liston College New Zealand Army personnel University of Auckland alumni Association of Community Access Broadcasters 21st-century New Zealand politicians Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election