Tracey Lee McLellan (born 20 May 1970) is a New Zealand politician. In 2020 she was elected as 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

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for the Labour Party.

Early life

McLellan was born in Sydney Australia in May 1970, before moving to

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Reg ...

, where she grew up in a state house. Her mother was disabled and unable to work. McLellan moved to Christchurch in 2002. McLellan has a Master's degree from Massey University, and a PhD in psychology from the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

and worked in academic psychology specializing in sports injuries and concussion, as a research scientist at the University of Canterbury. Later she became a union organiser for the

New Zealand Nurses Organisation The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) is New Zealand's largest trade union and professional organisation that represents the nursing profession, midwives and caregivers. It is one of the oldest organisations of this type in the world, traci ...

Political career

McLellan has been a member of the Labour Party since 2011. She was chair of the electorate committee and was joint campaign manager to

Ruth Dyson Ruth Suzanne Dyson (born 11 August 1957) is a former New Zealand politician. She was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2020. She represented the electorate from the election to 2020. She also held a number of senior offices i ...

's campaign in the electorate at the . In May 2019 she won a by-election to become vice president of the Labour Party. Following

Nigel Haworth Nigel Anthony Fell Haworth (born 1951) is a New Zealand economics academic and politician. He was elected President of the New Zealand Labour Party in February 2015, succeeding Moira Coatsworth. Education and academic career Born in Wales in ...

's resignation over his handling of abuse allegations within the party, McLellan (who was a member of a panel which dismissed initial complaints) became acting party president. She was selected as its candidate for the Banks Peninsula electorate in November 2019, ahead of three other nominees: Reuben Davidson, Joe Davies and Tyrone Fields. In January 2020, McLellan identified ACC and health as portfolios in which she would like to make a difference, but says that her electorate has diverse needs from climate change effects in

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and Lyttelton, to education, health, housing and water issues. During the 2020 general election held on 17 October, McLellan was elected with a majority of 13,156 over National's Catherine Chu and

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Member of Parliament

Eugenie Sage Eugenie Meryl Sage (born 1958) is a New Zealand politician and environmentalist. Since the , she has been a Green Party list MP in the House of Representatives and served as the Minister of Conservation and Land Information and the Associate Min ...

Family

McLellan is a single mother to two sons. One son, Jake, was elected a member of the

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in 2019. She credits her son with pushing her to join the Labour Party.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McLellan, Tracey 1970 births Living people New Zealand Labour Party MPs New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 21st-century New Zealand politicians 21st-century New Zealand women politicians Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Massey University alumni University of Canterbury alumni