David James Clendon (born 11 September 1955) is a New Zealand politician and former member of the Green Party. Following the resignation of Sue Bradford, Clendon became a member of the House of Representatives on 2 November 2009.

Personal life

Clendon is of Ngāpuhi, Te Roroa and Pākehā descent. He is a descendant of James Reddy Clendon, the United States Consul in New Zealand. He has a partner, Lindis, and one daughter Kaya.

Political career

Clendon joined the Green Party in 1990. In both the

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and 2005 elections, Clendon polled third in the seat of Waitakere, ranked 19th and 12th 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 ...

, respectively. Clendon was the co-convenor of the Green Party from 2001 to 2004. He did not contest the 2002 general election because the party's constitution bars co-convenors from standing for parliament. Along with MP

Nándor Tánczos Nándor Steven Tánczos (, hu, Tánczos Nándor; born 29 May 1966) is a New Zealand social ecologist, researcher, educator, activist and political commentator. He is currently a councillor in the Whakatāne District Council. He is also co-direc ...

, former MP Mike Ward and 2005 election campaign manager Russel Norman, Clendon contested the Green's male leadership role in 2005 after the unexpected death of co-leader Rod Donald, saying that it made sense to "appoint an out-of-Parliament leader, rather than stretch the sitting MPs even further." Norman won the leadership after a vote at a party

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in June 2006. Clendon was elected as a Councillor for the Far North District in 2019.

Member of Parliament

In the 2008 general election Clendon was ranked tenth on the Green list and stood as a candidate in the Helensville electorate, coming third with 5.96% of the electorate vote. Following the resignation of list MP Sue Bradford, Clendon entered Parliament as he was next on the Green

. He became a Member of Parliament on 2 November 2009 and delivered his maiden speech to Parliament on 17 November. A

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

in Clendon's name was drawn from the ballot in February 2010. The Smart Meters (Consumer Choice) Bill would require that domestic power users be advised on the options available for the use of smart meters in their homes. It was voted down by the Government later that year. In the , Clendon unsuccessfully contested the electorate but was re-elected as a list MP ranked eighth. In the , he stood in the electorate and was re-elected as a list MP ranked eleventh. He did not contest the

2015 Northland by-election A by-election was held in the Northland electorate on 28 March 2015. The seat had been vacated following the resignation of Mike Sabin of the National Party from the House of Representatives on 30 January 2015. Northland was generally regarded ...

, but was planning to stand in the seat again in the . On 7 August 2017, Clendon and fellow Green Party MP

Kennedy Graham Kennedy Gollan Montrose Graham (born 1946) is a New Zealand politician and former Member of Parliament for the Green Party. He has served in the New Zealand Foreign Service for sixteen years, and lectured at the University of Canterbury and Vi ...

announced that they were planning to resign as Green Party candidates for the 2017 election, after revelations that Party co-leader Metiria Turei committed benefit and electoral fraud. Graham and Clendon stated that their resignations were due to the public positions she had taken regarding her offending, and her subsequent refusal to step down from her leadership role. The next day, both Clendon and Graham resigned from the Party caucus, after there were moves to remove them involuntarily. On 9 August 2017, Turei resigned as co-leader of the Party and as a list candidate for the 2017 election.

Spokesperson roles

Clendon was the Green Party's spokesperson on the Auckland Supercity, Commerce, Consumer Affairs, Corrections, ICT, Resource Management Act, Small Business, Tertiary Education, Tourism, Māori Affairs and Research Science and Technology.

Notes

References

External links

Profile at Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand website
(archived 14 June 2017)
Parliamentary website profile
(showing his role as "musterer", formerly "deputy musterer") {{DEFAULTSORT:Clendon, David 1955 births Living people Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand MPs New Zealand left-wing activists New Zealand list MPs Unsuccessful candidates in the 1999 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2005 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2008 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 21st-century New Zealand politicians Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election