Kenneth Xiaoxuan Wang (; born 1955) is a former Deputy Leader of the

ACT New Zealand ACT New Zealand, known simply as ACT (), is a right-wing, classical-liberal political party in New Zealand. According to former party leader Rodney Hide, ACT's values are "individual freedom, personal responsibility, doing the best for our natur ...

party. He previously served as a member of

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 ...

to replace

Donna Awatere Huata Donna Lynn Awatere Huata (sometimes written Awatere-Huata, previously known as Donna Awatere; born 1949) is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament for the ACT New Zealand Party and activist for Māori causes. Early life Donna Awatere wa ...

, who was expelled from Parliament in November 2004.

Biography

Wang was born in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and has three siblings. He arrived in New Zealand in 1984 and is married with two children. Wang worked in the

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

and

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

sector in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. He was New Zealand's second Chinese MP (with the first being

Pansy Wong Pansy Yu Fong Wong (; born 1955) is a former New Zealand politician. She was New Zealand's first Asian MP, serving as a member of parliament for the National Party from 1996 to 2011. She was also New Zealand's first Asian Cabinet Minister, se ...

). At the 2005 election, Wang contested the seat of Mt Roskill, and was seventh on ACT's party list. However, he was not returned to

. In the 2008 general election, he stood unsuccessfully in the electorate of

Botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

for the

Party. National candidate

filed a complaint to the electoral commission about Wang's billboards which exhorted, "Vote for Wang, get Wang and Wong" (because Pansy Wong's high rank on the National Party List assured her of a seat in parliament). He was elected Deputy Leader of ACT in April 2014. Wang resigned as Deputy Leader on 9 July 2017, after expressing disappointment with his list placing and feelings that ACT had moved away from former policies that compelled him to join the party 15 years earlier. Kenneth owns an advertising company in Auckland called 'BananaWorks'.

Notes

References

1955 births ACT New Zealand MPs Living people Chinese emigrants to New Zealand Unsuccessful candidates in the 2002 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2005 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2014 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand list MPs 21st-century New Zealand politicians Foreign-born New Zealand politicians {{NewZealand-politician-stub