The Honourable
Mark Patterson
MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for New Zealand First party list
Assumed office
14 October 2023
In office
23 September 2017 – 17 October 2020
Personal details
Born
Mark William James Patterson

1970 (age 53–54)
Political partyNew Zealand First (2015–present)
Other political
affiliations		National (2007–2015)

Mark William James Patterson MP (born 1970)[1] is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the New Zealand First party.

Career before politics

Patterson had a career as a sheep farmer in Lawrence, Otago, and was involved with the Meat Industry Excellence Group.[2]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2017–2020 52nd List 7 NZ First
2023–present 54th List 4 NZ First

National Party candidacy

Patterson was previously involved with the National Party and unsuccessfully contested the nomination for the Clutha-Southland electorate in 2014 upon Bill English's decision to become a List MP, but lost to Todd Barclay.[2]

First term, 2017–2020

In the 2017 election Patterson stood for New Zealand First in the Clutha-Southland electorate and was placed 7 on the New Zealand First party list.[3][2] He duly entered parliament via the party list.[4]

As a member of Parliament, Patterson served as a member on both the Education and Workforce, and Primary Production Select Committees. Patterson is the New Zealand First Party spokesperson for Agriculture and Primary Industry, Bio-Security, Christchurch Earthquake Recovery, Crown Minerals, Customs, Food Safety, Intellectual Property, and Land Information.[5]

Patterson sponsored a total of three bills in his first parliamentary term, the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income (Fair Residency) Amendment Bill, the Gore District Council (Otama Rural Water Supply) Bill, and the Farm Debt Mediation Bill.[6]

Patterson was announced as the New Zealand First candidate for the newly formed Taieri electorate for the 2020 general election.[7]

During the 2020 general election held on 17 October, Patterson unsuccessfully contested Taieri, coming fourth place.[8] He and his fellow NZ First MPs lost their seats after the party's vote dropped to 2.7%, below the five percent threshold needed to enter Parliament.[9][10]

Second term, 2023–present

On 16 September 2023, Patterson was ranked fourth place on New Zealand First's party list for the 2023 New Zealand general election and contested the Taieri electorate.[11] During the 2023 election, Patterson came fourth place in the Taeiri electorate, gaining 3,069 votes.[12] He was re-elected to Parliament on the NZ First party list.[13] NZ First reentered Parliament, with 6.08% of the popular vote and eight seats.[14]

Following the formation of the National-led coalition government, Patterson assumed the positions of Minister for Rural Communities and Associate Minister of Agriculture in late November 2023.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Roll of members of the New Zealand House of Representatives, 1854 onwards" (PDF). New Zealand Parliament. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Woolf, Amber-Leigh (29 May 2017). "NZ First Clutha-Southland candidate Mark Patterson keen to shine light on local issues". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  3. ↑ "The NZ First Party list for the 2017 General Election". Scoop. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. 23 September 2017. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  5. ↑ "Patterson, Mark – New Zealand Parliament". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  6. ↑ "Bills (proposed laws) – New Zealand Parliament". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "New Zealand First MP Mark Patterson Selected As Candidate For Taieri". www.scoop.co.nz (Press release). New Zealand First. Scoop News. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "Taieri - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  9. ↑ "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  10. ↑ Owen, Catrin (18 October 2020). "Election 2020: Who are the MPs ejected from Parliament?". Stuff. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "Election 2023: New Zealand First releases party list". Radio New Zealand. 16 September 2023. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  12. ↑ "Taieri - Official Result". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  13. ↑ "2023 General Election: Successful candidates". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  14. ↑ "Official count - Overall Results". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  15. ↑ "Cabinet lineup for new government unveiled - who gets what?". Radio New Zealand. 24 November 2023. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
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