Paul Adams (born ) is a politician and former rally driving champion from New Zealand.

Early years

Adams was originally a carpenter and

joiner A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc. Joiners may work in ...

, but later established a business manufacturing outdoor playground equipment. Later, he became a professional rally driver, and won three prestigious New Zealand championships. He also owned a

Kia Motors Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...

and Suzuki dealerships in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

Member of Parliament

Adams is a member of

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

City Impact Church, and as a result, became involved in Christian politics in New Zealand. After first being a member of the Christian Heritage Party, he joined the religious-based

Future New Zealand The Christian Democrat Party of New Zealand was a Christian socially conservative political party established in 1995. It contested the 1996 general election as part of the Christian Coalition with the Christian Heritage Party. It changed it ...

party. Future New Zealand later merged with

United New Zealand United New Zealand was a centrist political party in New Zealand founded in 1995. It merged with the Christian-based Future New Zealand party to form the United Future New Zealand party in 2000. History Formation United was founded on 28 June 1 ...

to form the modern

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 ...

group, which Adams remained a member of until 2005. In the 2002 election, Adams was ranked ninth on the United Future party list. Thanks to the unexpectedly strong performance of United Future, the party gained enough votes for eight seats, leaving Adams just outside Parliament. Later,

Kelly Chal Kelly Chal is a former New Zealand politician. She was elected to parliament as a member of the United Future party and held her seat for 17 days before it was realised she was ineligible, not being a New Zealand citizen. Early life Chal was bor ...

, a higher-ranked candidate, was forced to withdraw because she did not have New Zealand

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

, which she had not realised was necessary. Adams, as the next candidate on the list, entered Parliament in her place. Adams was one of the more conservative members of Parliament. After he was elected, it was reported that he had made a written submission on the 1993 Human Rights Bill saying that people with AIDS should not be allowed to "run loose". He also spoke out about subjects like abortion, and fasted for 21 days to oppose the civil unions legislation, which was passed regardless.

Independent

On 15 August 2005 Adams left United Future to stand as an independent in the East Coast Bays Electorate. He gained 5809 votes after a short five-week campaign, which placed him third overall. He was subsequently involved with a proposed new party to be established by his former colleague Gordon Copeland and

Destiny New Zealand Destiny New Zealand was a Christian political party in New Zealand centred on the charismatic/pentecostal Destiny Church. The party described itself as "centre-right". It placed a strong focus on socially conservative values and argued that the ...

. However, these negotiations collapsed, but Adams then became the Deputy Leader of The Family Party. Adams stood as a candidate for The Family Party in the East Coast Bays Electorate in the 2008 election. On 9 November 2008 general election, Paul Adams was again unsuccessful as Family Party candidate for the

East Coast Bays East Coast Bays is a string of small suburbs that form the northernmost part of the North Shore, part of the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. The suburbs line the north-east coast of the city along the shore of the Haurak ...

electorate. He polled third, behind

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, c ...

candidate

Murray McCully Murray Stuart McCully (born 19 February 1953) is a former New Zealand politician. He is a member of the National Party, and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2017. Early life Born in Whangārei, McCully was educated at Ar ...

and

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 ...

candidate Vivienne Goldsmith. As The Family Party failed to win any other electorate or list seats, Adams did not re-enter Parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Paul United Future MPs New Zealand rally drivers 1940s births Living people Year of birth uncertain The Family Party politicians Christian Democrat Party (New Zealand) politicians New Zealand list MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Unsuccessful candidates in the 2008 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2005 New Zealand general election New Zealand real estate agents 21st-century New Zealand politicians