Simon Glen Watts is a New Zealand politician. he is an elected

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

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for the National Party.

Early life and career

Watts was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, Waikato, where his family were orchardists. He has two younger brothers. Watts has bachelor's degrees in management, accounting and finance, and health science. He has worked in both the private and public sector roles in New Zealand, Asia and the United Kingdom. During the

Global Financial Crisis Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

he was working for the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank ...

in London in various management roles. He is a chartered accountant and was later deputy chief financial officer at the

Waitematā District Health Board The Waitemata District Health Board (Waitemata DHB) was a district health board with the focus on providing healthcare to people living in the area that used to be covered by North Shore city, Rodney District, and Waitakere City in New Zealand. ...

. He also has a Bachelor of Paramedicine from the

Auckland University of Technology Auckland University of Technology (AUT) ( mi, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT ...

, and at one point worked as a front-line ambulance officer for St John.

Political career

In 2018 Watts attempted to gain the

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 ...

nomination in the Northcote by-election to replace former Cabinet Minister Jonathan Coleman, but lost to

Dan Bidois Daniel Michael Bidois (born 1983) is a New Zealand politician and economist who sat as the National Party Member for Northcote in the New Zealand House of Representatives. Bidois was elected on 9 June 2018 as the Member for Northcote. He was a ...

. Watts was selected as the National candidate for the North Shore electorate in March 2020, ahead of four other nominees including former Devonport-Takapuna Local Board member Joe Bergin and Kaipātiki Local Board member Danielle Grant. Watts stated his objectives in politics are giving more government support to the health sector and building more roads and new infrastructure. He is also concerned about improving wastewater networks to improve water quality at beaches. 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 ...

, he was elected to the North Shore seat by a margin of 3,734 votes, defeating

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 ...

's candidate Romy Udanga.

Personal life

Watts is married with two sons. His wife works in marketing.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Simon Living people New Zealand accountants New Zealand National Party MPs New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 21st-century New Zealand politicians Year of birth missing (living people)