David Wilson (New Zealand First politician)

Last updated

David Wilson
MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for New Zealand First party list
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 June 2025

David Ashley Wilson [1] is a New Zealand politician. A member of the New Zealand First party, he was elected a Member of the New Zealand House of Representatives (MP) on 30 June 2025. [2]

Contents

Early life and career

Wilson was born in Kumeū, Auckland and was raised in Glendowie by adoptive parents. [3] [4] He was schooled at Mount Taylor Primary School, Glen Innes Intermediate School, and Saint Kentigern College, where he was a boarder. His adopted father, a businessman, died in Wilson's final year of high school and he said that inhibited his ability to go to university. [4] After working as a retailer while his wife trained to be a doctor, he studied for a Bachelor of Arts in social policy and psychology and a masters degree in public policy. [5]

In 2016, Wilson was awarded a PhD from Auckland University of Technology for his thesis The Metropolitan Auckland Project: A Step-Change in Governance and Regional Economic Development in a City-Region, which was supervised by Marilyn Waring. [6]

Wilson's career has been in economic development. He was the chief executive officer of the Northland Regional Council's economic development agency Northland Inc from 2013 to 2017, when he resigned to become a parliamentary candidate. Simultaneously, he was the chairman of the Economic Development Association of New Zealand. [7] After not being elected in the 2017 general election, he went back to Northland Inc until 2019. He then moved to the Upper Harbour area of Auckland, where he worked as a consultant. [8] [9] [10]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
YearsTermElectorateListParty
2025–present 54th List9th NZ First

Wilson joined the New Zealand First party in 2015. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the party in both the 2017 and 2020 general elections: in 2017, he was number 14 on the list and stood in Te Atatū; and in 2020, he stood in Whangārei and was ranked 9th on the party list. [7] [11] [12] When the Labour—New Zealand First coalition government created the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) during its 2017–2020 term, regional economic development minister Shane Jones appointed Wilson to the PGF independent advisory panel. [13]

Wilson contested Upper Harbour for New Zealand First in the 2023 general election and was 9th on the party list. [7] While he was not elected at that election, he was declared elected on 30 June 2025 to fill the vacancy left by Tanya Unkovich's resignation. [2] [10] In his first term in Parliament, he was sat on the economic development, science and innovation committee and the social services and community committee. [14]

Personal life

Wilson coached netball and basketball. He is also an accessibility and innovation advocate, being a board member of social enterprise The Be. [3] In 2024 he was defrauded, losing $200,000 from his retirement savings in an investment scam. Wilson spoke publicly about the incident to bring awareness of scams as well as the lack of protections for victims. [15]

Notes

  1. ↑ Normally, list MPs do not have individual predecessors or successors, but Unkovich resigned during a sitting parliament and therefore was succeeded by Wilson.

References

  1. ↑ "Return of Electorate Candidate Donations, Expenses" (PDF). 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Declaration by Electoral Commission that David Ashley Wilson is elected a Member of Parliament". New Zealand Gazette . 30 June 2025. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  3. 1 2 Czerwonatis, Julia (20 June 2020). "NZ First candidate for Whangārei David Wilson to take on 'tanked economy' in the North". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Maiden Statements — Dr David Wilson". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  5. ↑ "North economic boss joins NZ First". NZ Herald. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  6. ↑ "The Metropolitan Auckland Project: A Step-Change in Governance and Regional Economic Development in a City-Region". Auckland University of Technology. 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 Tokalau, Torika (31 August 2017). "NZ First's David Wilson close to being a MP". Western Leader . Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  8. ↑ Whyte, Anna (27 June 2025). "NZ First MP Tanya Unkovich resigns". The Post . Retrieved 27 June 2025– via The Press.
  9. ↑ Whyte, Anna (28 June 2025). "Meet New Zealand First's incoming MP David Wilson". The Post . Archived from the original on 28 June 2025. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  10. 1 2 "NZ First MP Tanya Unkovich quits Parliament". RNZ News . 27 June 2025. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  11. ↑ "2017 General Election Party Lists". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 20 April 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "New Zealand First Party List" (Press release). New Zealand First. Scoop). 17 September 2020. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "Inaugural meeting of Independent Advisory Panel". The Beehive. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  14. ↑ "Dr David Wilson". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  15. ↑ Nichols, Lane (23 March 2024). "NZ First candidate David Wilson loses $200k in scam, bank confirms mule account 'legitimate' in phone recording". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 27 June 2025.
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