Helen Ione White (born ) is a New Zealand politician. In 2020 she became a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

for the Labour Party. In 2023, she was chosen by Labour to contest the Mount Albert electorate, previously held by former Prime Minister

Jacinda Ardern Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...

. White won the seat, holding it for Labour, but by a significantly reduced margin of 18 votes.

Early life and career

White and her family originally lived in

Kawerau Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distric ...

before moving to Auckland in 1971 where the school she attended was 98% Polynesian students. She grew up in

Freemans Bay Freemans Bay is the name of a former bay and now inner city suburb of Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. The bay has been filled in to a considerable extent, with the reclamation area now totally concealing the ancient shoreline. Hist ...

, Auckland and became a barrister, specialising in employment law. She lives in Auckland and has three children. Early in her legal career, White worked with the

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) was the largest private sector trade union in New Zealand. It was formed in 1996 by the merger of the Engineers' Union (EU), the Printing, Packaging and Manufacturing Union (PPMU), and th ...

for a period alongside future Labour leader Andrew Little.

Political career

In 2009 White attempted to gain the Labour nomination in the Mount Albert by-election to replace former Prime Minister

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

, but lost to

David Shearer David James Shearer (born 28 July 1957) is a New Zealand United Nations worker and politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Labour Party from 2009 to 2016, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2011 to 2013. Shea ...

. Eight years later in February 2017, White won the Labour Party nomination to stand in at the general election in , winning preference over other contestant

Shanan Halbert Shanan Kiritea Halbert (born 1982) is a New Zealand politician. As of 2020 he is a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party. Early life and career Halbert has affiliation to Rongowhakaata and Ngāti Whitikaupek ...

. White was ranked 40 on Labour's party list.

First term, 2020–2023

Despite not being elected to parliament in 2017, White was selected to stand in Auckland Central again in . White received some criticism after mocking her electorate opponent, 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 ...

Chlöe Swarbrick Chlöe Charlotte Swarbrick (born 26 June 1994) is a New Zealand politician. Following a high-profile but unsuccessful run for the 2016 Auckland mayoral election, she became a parliamentary candidate for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand ...

, as a celebrity candidate and describing herself as the serious candidate, despite the fact that Swarbrick held a seat in Parliament (as a

List MP A list MP is a member of parliament (MP) elected from a party list rather than from by a geographical constituency. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes that the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs ...

) while White did not. A Newshub poll conducted in September 2020 had White with a large lead over her main competitors 42.3 to 26.6 for National's Emma Mellow and 24.2 for Swarbrick. By October the race had tightened. White remained in the lead but dropped to 35 percent to Mellow's 30 and Swarbrick's 26. White did not win the Auckland Central seat, losing to Swarbrick by 1068 votes, but was allocated a seat in Parliament via Labour's

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 ...

. In her first term as an MP, White was a member of the

Finance and Expenditure Committee The Finance and Expenditure Committee (known as the Public Accounts Committee until 1962, and as the Public Expenditure Committee, from 1962) is a select committee of the House of Representatives, the unicameral chamber of the New Zealand Parliame ...

, the Regulations Review Committee, and the Transport and Infrastructure Committee. In February 2023, Labour leader and prime minister

announced she would leave Parliament, and in March 2023 the Labour Party selected White as its replacement candidate for the Mount Albert electorate in the

2023 New Zealand general election The 2023 New Zealand general election to determine the composition of the 54th Parliament of New Zealand is planned to be held on 14 October 2023, after the currently elected 53rd Parliament is dissolved or expires. Voters will elect 120 memb ...

Second term, 2023–present

In October 2023, White held the electorate for Labour, but by a reduced margin of 20 votes following the release on final results on 3 November. In 2020, Ardern had won the electorate by more than 21,000 votes. After the National Party's candidate

Melissa Lee Melissa Ji-Yun Lee ( ko, 이지연; born 1966) is a New Zealand politician. She was elected to the House of Representatives as a list MP for the National Party in the 2008 election. , she is the National Party's spokesperson for broadcasting, ...

sought a judicial recount, White's margin dropped to 18 votes. In late November 2023, White was appointed as spokesperson for community and voluntary sector, small business and manufacturing, and associate justice in the Shadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Helen Living people New Zealand Labour Party MPs 21st-century New Zealand women politicians New Zealand list MPs Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand trade unionists Unsuccessful candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2023 New Zealand general election Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century New Zealand lawyers