Marc Alexander is a New Zealand politician. He was elected to Parliament as a list MP for the

United Future New Zealand United Future New Zealand, usually known as United Future, was a centrist political party in New Zealand. The party was in government between 2005 and 2017, first alongside Labour (2005–2008) and then supporting National (2008–2017). U ...

party in 2002, and stood unsuccessfully as the National Party candidate for

Wigram Wigram is a suburb in the southwest of Christchurch, New Zealand. The suburb lies close to the industrial estates of Sockburn and the satellite retail and residential zone of Hornby, and has undergone significant growth in recent years due to h ...

in 2008.

Public activities

Before entering politics, Alexander was a restaurateur in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, and also co-hosted a cooking program on local television. He authored "From a Grasshut to the Beehive (2005)" – a politically incorrect cookbook. He was also a spokesperson for the

Sensible Sentencing Trust The Sensible Sentencing Trust is a political advocacy group based in Napier, New Zealand. The Trust's stated goal is "to educate both the public and victims of serious violent and/or sexual crime and homicide" It focuses on advocating for the ri ...

, a group which lobbies for reforms in the criminal justice system. He was then their Crime Prevention spokesperson. After the 2005 general election, Alexander left the United Future Party, where many thought his atheistic, libertarian views clashed with the social conservatism of the majority (not to mention the willingness of the Party to support a Labour-led government). Although he voted against both the Prostitution Reform Act and the Civil Union Act (two pieces of legislation strongly opposed by Christian groups), he claims he did so due to concerns over the effects of the legislation as written, rather than any ideological opposition. Since leaving the United Future Party, Alexander has been an involved member of the National Party in Christchurch. He served as Policy Chairman for Wigram, and also edited the Canterbury/Westland policy newsletter 'Thinking National'. He was selected as the National Party candidate for Wigram in the 2008 general election, and was placed 61st on the party's list. At this time he resigned his position with Sensible Sentencing, since the Trust's rules require all spokespeople to be politically unaligned. Alexander writes "Marc My Words", an occasional political column, for the online New Zealand news website

Scoop Scoop, Scoops or The scoop may refer to: Objects * Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging * Scoop (machine part), a component of machinery to carry things * Scoop stretcher, a device used for casualt ...

and has a daily political opinion spot on Coromandel FM called 'Marc My Word'. He lives in Christchurch with his wife Angelika Frank-Alexander and son. In June 2019 Alexander became the leader of the New NZ Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Marc United Future MPs New Zealand atheists New Zealand libertarians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) New Zealand National Party politicians New Zealand list MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Unsuccessful candidates in the 2005 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2008 New Zealand general election 21st-century New Zealand politicians