Jillian Marie Day (born 1978 or 1979) is a New Zealand politician. She is the

president of the New Zealand Labour Party The President of the New Zealand Labour Party is the highest-ranked organisational figure within the New Zealand Labour Party. The president serves as the chairperson of the party's council and policy council. Since 2022, the office has been hel ...

, and was deputy mayor of Wellington from 2017 to 2019.

Early life and family

Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North Is ...

descent, Day was born in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

and also lived 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 River / ...

before moving to

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 ...

when she was 14 years old. She holds a science degree in biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology 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 kno ...

and a post graduate diploma in primary teaching, and went on to become a primary school teacher in Wellington. She lives in Tawa with her husband and three children. She was a stay-at-home mum for 10 years until her youngest child started school, when she re-entered the workforce with a part-time job helping children who were falling behind with literacy skills.

Political career

Wellington City Council

Day was the president of the local playcentre and managed the Bikes in Schools programme, where she often lobbied her local councillor Justin Lester, who encouraged her to run for the council herself. Day felt urged to run for the Wellington City Council after meeting a homeless family in 2016. Though running as an independent, she stated that "it's pretty clear I'm a left-leaning political being". In the 2016 elections, she succeeded Justin Lester, who was elected mayor, in the Northern ward, and became the first Māori woman to be elected to the council. On 28 September 2017, less than a year into her first term, she was appointed deputy mayor by Lester, replacing

Paul Eagle Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

whom had been elected to parliament in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. She held this position until 2019 when Lester lost the mayoral election to

Andy Foster Andrew John Whitfield Foster (born 21 December 1961) is a New Zealand politician who served as Mayor of Wellington from 2019 to 2022. Foster served on the Wellington City Council for nine terms from 1992 until 2019. Biography Early life Foste ...

. In the 2019–2022 term, she was chair of the Strategy and Policy Committee until June 2021 and thereafter chair of the Social, Cultural and Economic Committee. In these roles she drove the process to create a Māori ward in Wellington. In February 2022, she announced she would not stand again for Council at the 2022 election, instead running for and being elected to the Tawa Community Board. She was elected as an independent candidate, topping the poll with more votes than any other candidate.

Labour Party

Day joined the Labour Party before the 2020 general election. In July 2022, she was elected unopposed to be the next president of the Labour Party after Claire Szabó stated she would not seek re-election that year. She was the only nomination to take over from Szabó at the 2022 Labour Party annual conference. Her election as president was confirmed in November 2022 at the conference.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Jill 1970s births Living people People from Palmerston North Victoria University of Wellington alumni Ngāti Tūwharetoa people New Zealand schoolteachers 21st-century New Zealand women politicians Māori politicians Wellington City Councillors Deputy mayors of Wellington New Zealand Labour Party politicians