Kaye served as the member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Auckland Central electorate from 2008 until 2020. In January 2013,she was appointed to the Cabinet by Prime Minister John Key,giving her the portfolios of Food Safety,Civil Defence,and Youth Affairs,and Associate Minister of Education and Immigration. In September 2016,she took sick leave from the House of Representatives for breast cancer treatment[2] and returned to Parliament in early 2017 to resume full duties.[3] Kaye announced on 16 July 2020 she was leaving politics at the 2020 general election. She died of breast cancer in November 2024.
Early life
Kaye was born in Auckland and grew up in the surrounding suburbs of Epsom and Kohimarama.[4] Kaye's parents separated when she was seven years old.[5]
Kaye was an accomplished competitive athlete,having been the Auckland Women's 3,000m running champion in 1997,and has raced in numerous marathons and multi-sport events. In 2008 Kaye competed in the Coast to Coast multi-sport event. In February 2013,Kaye completed the Coast to Coast race a second time,becoming the first New Zealand Cabinet Minister to do so.[8]
In 1997,Kaye participated in a television documentary called Fish out of Water,in which she and five other teenagers were marooned on Rakitu Island (off Great Barrier Island) and fended for themselves for eight days.[4] The documentary footage was located in March 2014 and was published on New Zealand on Air's on-line archive NZ On Screen as part of its "before they were famous" series.[9]
Kaye returned to New Zealand in late 2007 to contest the National Party candidacy for the Auckland Central electorate. Standing against three other nominees, Kaye was considered[by whom?] an outsider in a close selection battle against sitting list MP Jackie Blue for the nomination.[12]
Kaye worked full-time as the National Party candidate from the time of her selection. She campaigned on improving public transport infrastructure, improving marine protection around Great Barrier Island, and taking a greater interest in small businesses in Auckland. During her campaign she knocked on 10,000 doors.[13]
As an MP Kaye supported applications for the New Zealand Cycle Trail fund for routes in urban Auckland, on Waiheke Island and Great Barrier Island (the latter two islands being in her electorate as well).[15] In early 2010, she broke with the National Party's policy of encouraging mining in conservation land, including on Great Barrier – claiming long connections to the island, and fitting in with her known support for environmental causes. She had noted during her maiden speech in parliament that "Our environment is the greatest gift we have been given as a nation", and that economical considerations, especially of the short term, should not trump this.[7] Kaye was a supporter of reinstating trams for Auckland, and called for a feasibility study into extending the new Wynyard Loop.[16]
She holds up former National MP Katherine Rich as one of her role models.[4] Kaye's own policies, placing her in the socially liberal wing of the National Party,[7] have been criticised by some people in her own party, where some have called her a "high maintenance backbencher". Others have called her "obsessive", or, in a more positive vein, "driven".[7] However, commentators have argued that her stance was unlikely to hurt her in her marginal electorate, which has traditionally voted Labour.[7]
Kaye was elected the deputy chair of the Government Administration Select Committee in February 2011. In her first parliamentary term, she also sat on the Local Government and Environment Select Committee and the Auckland Governance Legislation Select Committee. Through her time in Parliament on these committees she was heavily involved in the review of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Bill and legislation creating the Auckland Council.[17]
In May 2011, Kaye appeared in an episode of the TVNZ series Make the Politician Work. The episode featured Kaye working a shift on a rubbish collection route and highlighted her campaign for waste minimisation in Auckland.[18]
At the 2011 election, Kaye stood again in Auckland Central in a high-profile race to retain the seat. She was challenged for the seat by Labour list MP Jacinda Ardern and Green candidate Denise Roche, and was placed at position 33 on the National Party list. She defeated Ardern, although her majority was halved to 717, her share of the vote increased to 45.39%, due to significant strategic voting by Green Party voters supporting Ardern for the electorate vote.[19]
Second term
Following the 2011 election, Kaye was elected Chair of Parliament's Education and Science Select Committee. During this time, despite a minority of Government members on the Committee, she managed to progress a significant number of inquiries and pieces of legislation through the House process.[20] At the end of 2012, the Education and Science Select Committee completed an inquiry into 21st Century Learning Environments and Digital Literacy, which Kaye championed.[21]
Kaye was instrumental in bringing a gay pride event back to Auckland,[22] where there is a significant LGBT community in her electorate. In 2012, she worked with Green MP Kevin Hague on a private member's bill to reform adoption and surrogacy laws, which was introduced to Parliament that year.[23] In August 2012, Kaye successfully led the campaign within the National Party to retain the alcohol purchase age at 18, despite significant support from parliamentary colleagues to raise the purchase age.[24]
After the 2014 general election, Kaye was appointed Minister for ACC,[29] while retaining her other portfolios, except Food Safety and Associate Immigration.[30] In 2016, she took leave from Parliament and her ministerial duties while being treated for breast cancer.[31] She returned to Parliament in early 2017 to resume full duties.[3]
Kaye retained the Auckland Central seat in the 2017 election, but National was not returned to government, after failing to form a coalition with NZ First.
National Party deputy leader
In May 2020, there was a challenge to the National Party leadership, where Todd Muller sought to replace Simon Bridges as leader of the National Party. The media reported days ahead of the vote that Kaye was understood to be Muller's running mate and was seeking to become the party's deputy leader, but she refused to confirm if she would stand, with news articles referring to her as the "presumed" candidate even hours before the vote.[32][33][34] On 22 May 2020, the party parliamentary caucus elected Muller as leader and Kaye as deputy leader.[35]
On 25 May 2020, she incorrectly described Paul Goldsmith as Māori when defending the diversity of Muller's Shadow Cabinet.[36][37] On 2 July 2020, Kaye assumed the Women's portfolio within Todd Muller's shadow cabinet after former Deputy Leader Paula Bennett announced that she would not be contesting the 2020 general election.[38][39]
Following Todd Muller's resignation as National Party leader, Kaye became acting (interim) leader for several hours.[40] Later that day, Judith Collins was elected to succeed Muller, and Gerry Brownlee replaced Kaye.[41] Kaye announced that she was leaving politics two days later, with her resignation taking effect at the October 2020 general election.[42]
In her valedictory speech in July 2020, Kaye said, "To the Parliamentarians, I've always said I believe there are two types of Parliamentarians in this place: Those that are in it for themselves and those that are in it for the country. Be the latter. Be brave and have courage. Don't leave anything in the tank."[43]
Death
Kaye died of breast cancer on 23 November 2024, at the age of 44.[44][45] Her father, lawyer Peter Kaye, died several days after her.[46]
Related Research Articles
The New Zealand National Party, shortened to National or the Nats, is a centre-right New Zealand political party that is the current senior ruling party. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside its traditional rival, the Labour Party.
Paula Lee Bennett is a New Zealand former politician who served as the 18th deputy prime minister of New Zealand between December 2016 and October 2017. She served as the deputy leader of the National Party from 2016 to 2020 and as MP for Upper Harbour from 2014 to 2020.
Jacqueline Diane Miller, commonly known as Jackie Blue, is a New Zealand politician and former member of Parliament for the National Party.
Simon Joseph Bridges is a New Zealand retired politician, broadcaster and lawyer. He served as Leader of the National Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2018 and 2020, and as the Member of Parliament for Tauranga from the 2008 election to May 2022, when he resigned. Bridges is the first and currently the only Māori person to serve as leader of a major political party in New Zealand.
Amy Juliet Adams is a former New Zealand politician of the New Zealand National Party and the current chancellor of the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. She was the Member of Parliament for Selwyn from 2008 to 2020, when she retired.
Michelle Ann Boag is a New Zealand public relations practitioner and former National Party president.
Todd Michael Muller is a New Zealand former 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.
The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd New Zealand 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.
The 2016 New Zealand National Party leadership election was held on 12 December 2016 to determine the next Leader of the National Party and the 39th Prime Minister of New Zealand. A secret exhaustive ballot of the 59-member National parliamentary caucus was to be used in the event of a contested leadership.
Chlöe Charlotte Swarbrick is a New Zealand politician. 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 ever to win an electorate seat, and the first without a tacit endorsement from a major party leader. She retained Auckland Central in the 2023 election. In March 2024, she was elected co-leader of the Green Party.
The 52nd New Zealand Parliament was a meeting of the legislature in New Zealand, which opened on 7 November 2017 following the 2017 general election and dissolved on 6 September 2020. The New Zealand Parliament comprises the Sovereign and the House of Representatives, which consists of 120 members.
Harete Makere Hipango is a New Zealand politician. She was a member of parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party and sat on the Māori Affairs Committee.
Nicola Valentine Willis is a New Zealand politician who is currently deputy leader of the National Party and minister of Finance in a coalition government with ACT and New Zealand First. Willis entered the New Zealand Parliament in 2018, when she inherited Steven Joyce's seat in Parliament as the next on the party list after his retirement from politics.
This page lists candidates contesting electorates in the 2020 New Zealand general election.
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 was the official Opposition of 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.
Brooke Olivia van Velden is a New Zealand politician who has served as the deputy leader of ACT New Zealand since June 2020. She has been a member of Parliament (MP) since the 2020 general election, first as a list MP and, since 2023, the MP for Tāmaki. Van Velden currently serves in the National-led government as the 38th minister of internal affairs and 6th minister for workplace relations and safety. She is the second youngest cabinet minister in New Zealand history, being just eight days older than Phil Goff was when he became Minister of Housing after the 1984 election.
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. Judith Collins became leader of the National Party and of the Opposition of New Zealand.
The Shadow Cabinet of Judith Collins formed the official Opposition in the 53rd New Zealand Parliament, and previously in the 52nd Parliament. It comprised the members of the New Zealand National Party, which is the largest party not a member of the Government. On Collins' dismissal as leader on 25 November 2021, the cabinet essentially ceased to exist, but what remained was de jure led on an interim basis by her deputy leader, Shane Reti, until the next leadership election. The cabinet was succeeded by that of Christopher Luxon.
An election took place in the Auckland Central general electorate on 17 October 2020 as part of the 2020 New Zealand general election. After incumbent MP, Nikki Kaye, declared she would not run for re-election, three main candidates emerged as potential victors; Labour candidate and employment lawyer Helen White, National candidate and communications manager Emma Mellow, and incumbent Green list MP Chlöe Swarbrick.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
