Michelle Ann Boag (born 10 December 1954) [1] is a New Zealand public relations practitioner and former National Party president.
Michelle Ann Boag (born 10 December 1954) [1] is a New Zealand public relations practitioner and former National Party president.
She was educated at Auckland Girls' Grammar School and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Victoria University of Wellington in 1977. [1]
Boag was a National Party activist, having joined the Junior National Party in Auckland in the early 1970s. She was in the Prime Minister's press office in 1976, joined the National Party research unit and in 1985 was press officer to the Leader of the Opposition. She spent a short time with the Liberal Party in Australia before moving to public relations work in Auckland and Wellington. [2] While representing Fay Richwhite at the Winebox Inquiry she misled the inquiry and brought in a fake film crew to collect footage of MP Winston Peters. [3] [4]
Boag was a National Party Dominion councillor and on the Dominion Publicity Committee. In 2002 she became National Party president. In her time as president she rejuvenated the party, manipulating candidate selections to remove those she saw as "dead wood". [5] [6] This enabled Bill English to become leader of the National Party, for the first time. English would then go on to lead the National Party to its worst ever election result at the 2002 election.
In 2006 Boag, then chair of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Foundation, used a rescue helicopter to fetch her passport from Waiheke Island and deliver it to her at Auckland International Airport. [7]
Boag became embroiled in the 2012 Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) privacy breach when it was revealed that she had acted as support person for ACC claimant Bronwyn Pullar. [8]
On 7 July 2020, Boag admitted leaking sensitive medical information about COVID-19 patients passed to her in confidence in her role of acting chief executive of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust. She gave the information to National MP Hamish Walker, who then provided it to media outlets. As a result she was forced to resign from the role. [9] [10] The following day, Boag resigned from roles she had on National Member of Parliament Nikki Kaye's electorate and campaign team. [11] [12] On 9 July she offered to resign from the board of the Simplicity Kiwisaver scheme. [13] On 10 July she resigned her membership of the National Party after it was revealed that she had also passed the leaked information to Health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse. [14]
Judith Anne Collins is a New Zealand politician serving as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the New Zealand National Party since 2020. She is the second female Leader of the National Party, after Jenny Shipley. Collins has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Papakura since 2008 and was MP for Clevedon from 2002 to 2008. She was a government minister in the cabinets of John Key and of Bill English.
Clutha-Southland was a parliamentary constituency returning one member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The last MP for Clutha Southland was Hamish Walker of the National Party. He held the seat for one term, being elected at the 2017 general election and representing the electorate until the 2020 general election where he retired from Parliament, and the seat was relaced with the Southland electorate.
The Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter is a New Zealand accident and emergency rescue and transport service operated by the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust (ARHT). The trust operates two AW169 and one BK117 helicopters on behalf of the helicopter owners—the greater Auckland community. There are four "Westpac Rescue Helicopter" services in New Zealand, but they are all separate entities and only linked by the same major sponsor.
Nicola Laura Kaye is a New Zealand politician who served as Deputy Leader of the New Zealand National Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 22 May 2020 to 14 July 2020.
Michael Allan Woodhouse is a National member of the New Zealand Parliament.
Simon Joseph Bridges is a New Zealand politician and lawyer. He served as Leader of the National Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2018 and 2020, and has been the Member of Parliament for Tauranga since the 2008 election.
Amy Juliet Adams is a former New Zealand politician of the New Zealand National Party. She was the Member of Parliament for Selwyn from 2008 to 2020, when she retired.
Todd Michael Muller is a New Zealand politician who served as the Leader of the New Zealand National Party and the Leader of the Opposition from 22 May to 14 July 2020. He entered Parliament at the 2014 general election as the MP for Bay of Plenty. On 23 June 2021, Muller announced he would be retiring at the next 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 party lists. Two referendums, one on the personal use of cannabis and one on euthanasia, were also held on the same day. Official results of the election and referendums were released on 6 November.
Chlöe Charlotte Swarbrick is a New Zealand politician and entrepreneur. Following a high-profile but unsuccessful run for the 2016 Auckland mayoral election, she became a parliamentary candidate for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, standing in the 2017 New Zealand general election and was elected as a member of the New Zealand Parliament at the age of 23. In the 2020 election, Swarbrick was elected as the Member of Parliament for Auckland Central, becoming the second Green Party MP to win an electorate seat in the history of the party, and the first minor party MP since the inception of MMP to win a general electorate seat without a tacit endorsement from a major party leader.
Hamish Richard Walker is a New Zealand politician and former Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party.
The Shadow Cabinet of Simon Bridges formed the official Opposition in the 52nd New Zealand Parliament. It comprised all members of the New Zealand National Party, which was the largest party not a member of the Government.
This page lists candidates contesting electorates in the 2020 New Zealand general election.
The following lists events that happened during 2020 in New Zealand. One overarching event is the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first case of the disease in New Zealand was reported on 28 February 2020. As of 9 July 2021, the country has had a total of 2,765 cases. 26 people have died from the virus, with cases recorded in all twenty district health board (DHB) areas. The pandemic peaked in early April 2020, with 89 new cases recorded per day and 929 active cases. A total of 1,852,557 COVID tests have been carried out as of 22 March 2021.
An election for the parliamentary leadership of the New Zealand National Party took place in the National Party parliamentary caucus on 22 May 2020. Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye stood against the existing leader Simon Bridges and his deputy leader Paula Bennett following poor polling results. Muller and Kaye won the votes and became the new leader and deputy leader respectively.
The Shadow Cabinet of Todd Muller formed the official Opposition in the 52nd New Zealand Parliament. It comprised the members of the New Zealand National Party, which was the largest party not a member of the Government.
An election for the parliamentary leadership of the New Zealand National Party by its caucus was held on 14 July 2020, after incumbent Todd Muller resigned earlier that day citing health reasons. It resulted in Judith Collins becoming leader of the National Party and of the Opposition.
The Shadow Cabinet of Judith Collins forms the official Opposition in the 53rd New Zealand Parliament, and previously in the 52nd Parliament. It comprises the members of the New Zealand National Party, which is the largest party not a member of the Government. Collins came to power after the resignation of Todd Muller on 14 July 2020.
She made it public when she became National's president that she was on a mission to rejuvenate the party and purge its caucus of 'dead wood'.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Slater | President of the National Party 2001–2002 | Succeeded by Judy Kirk |