Jessica Hammond is a New Zealand public servant, politician, playwright, and blogger. Hammond stood for The Opportunities Party for Ōhāriu in the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

general elections.

Political history

2017 general election

In August 2017, Hammond announced that she would contest the Ōhāriu electorate during the

2017 New Zealand general election The 2017 New Zealand general election took place on Saturday 23 September 2017 to determine the membership of the 52nd New Zealand Parliament. The previous parliament was elected on 20 September 2014 and was officially dissolved on 22 August 20 ...

. She came third, with 2898 votes, 7.29% of 40,026 valid votes. Hammond's campaign emerged as one of the strongest of the 26 The Opportunities Party (TOP) candidates, beating the candidates from 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 ...

New Zealand First New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Winst ...

, United Future, and ACT New Zealand in Ōhāriu. Following the election, Hammond stood in the

2018 Opportunities Party leadership election The 2018 Opportunities Party leadership election was held in New Zealand in December 2018 to determine the future leadership of The Opportunities Party (TOP) political party. The election was won by previous deputy leader Geoff Simmons. Backgrou ...

and came third at 13.25 percent (137 votes).

2020 general election

Geoff Simmons Geoffrey Leonard Simmons (born 27 December 1974) is an economist and former leader of The Opportunities Party (TOP), a political party in New Zealand. He stood for TOP in the February 2017 Mount Albert by-election, in the Wellington Central el ...

took leadership of TOP and planned on rebuilding the party. Hammond returned to TOP. In January 2020, Hammond announced that she would contest the Ōhāriu electorate for TOP during the

2020 New Zealand general election The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the House of Representatives, 72 from single-member electorates and 48 from closed ...

. Hammond and

announced a policy promising to reserve approximately $2.5b every year from central government's GST tax take for councils to spend on infrastructure. They launched their policy in front of the Mt Victoria Tunnel which is a road link between Wellington's CBD and the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

that both

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

and

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

have promised to expand. Hammond contested Equality Network's Scorecard of each party's commitment to addressing inequality, which raised TOP's score from one star to one and a half, bringing it in line with

and Māori Party in second equal place. Hammond said the housing crisis in New Zealand was a "slow-moving crisis" ignored by both parties, because they didn't have the "guts" to fix it. She campaigned on redeveloping the Johnsonville Mall, which leaks when it rains. In September 2020, Hammond spoke at the Renters United protest on the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

lawn, also attended by

's co-leader James Shaw. They protested the end to the Government's rent freeze, implemented in March under urgent

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

legislation, which allowed landlords to resume giving rent increase notices. Hammond called for a mandatory warrant of fitness for rental properties and a greater focus on medium-density housing. She came third, with 4,443 votes, 10.18% of 43,646 valid votes. Hammond beat the candidates in Ōhāriu from the

, ACT New Zealand, New Conservatives, ONE Party, and

Advance New Zealand The Advance New Zealand Party (abbreviated as Advance NZ or Advance) was a short-lived political party in New Zealand from 2020 to 2021. The idea was first unveiled in a newsletter from founder Jami-Lee Ross in April 2020. Ross has claimed th ...

After the 2020 election

In December 2020, Hammond spoke at a protest outside Parliament designed to remind MPs of a recent survey by

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...

where one in five Kiwis said they can't afford to celebrate Christmas. The demonstration has been organised by the United Community Action Network (UCAN) after more than 40 welfare and poverty charities signed an open letter to the Government pleading for them to increase welfare in the lead up to Christmas.

Personal life

Hammond was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand. Hammond has qualifications in economics, psychology, and philosophy. Hammond graduated with a Masters in Philosophy from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

and has 2 children. Hammond is a Khandallah homeowner. She works as a public servant. Hammond's daughters both have allergies and Hammond has written about the precautions taken as a parent to prevent reactions. In 2016, Hammond wrote the play ''Kiwiman and Robin'', which was performed at Gryphon Theatre. Inspired by The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Hammond performed at an open mic stand-up comedy night in 2019.

Electoral history

2017 Ōhāriu general election

2020 Ōhāriu general election

2018 Opportunities Party leadership election

Notes

References

External links

Jessica Hammond candidate profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, Jessica 21st-century New Zealand politicians Victoria University of Wellington alumni The Opportunities Party politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election Living people Year of birth missing (living people) New Zealand public servants 21st-century New Zealand public servants People from Wellington City 21st-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights New Zealand dramatists and playwrights New Zealand women dramatists and playwrights New Zealand bloggers New Zealand women bloggers