Rachel Boyack
MP
Boyack in 2023
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Nelson
Assumed office
17 October 2020
Preceded byNick Smith
Personal details
Political partyLabour
ResidenceNelson

Rachel Elizabeth Boyack-Mayer is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament for the Labour Party. She was elected to parliament in 2020, winning the Nelson electorate with a majority of 4,525, ousting incumbent Nick Smith who had held the seat since 1996. Boyack was re-elected in the 2023 election, by a reduced margin of 26 votes.

Early life and career

Boyack earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Auckland,[1] and was the assistant director of music at Christ Church Cathedral in Nelson.[2]

For three years, Boyack was the student union president for Saniti, the student union for Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology.[3][4] Following that, from about 2012 onward, she was the Nelson organiser of First Union.[3] Her activities included protesting pay at supermarkets,[5] clashing with the mayor of Nelson, Rachel Reese,[6] and opposing the closure of a bank's branch in Stoke.[7][8] In 2018 she was appointed to the board of governors of the Nelson Environment Centre and was also on the board of the Nelson Women's and Children's Refuge.[9]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2020–2023 53rd Nelson 57 Labour
2023–present 54th Nelson 42 Labour

Boyack has been a member of the Labour Party since 2005.[3] She was selected as its candidate for the Nelson electorate in January 2017,[10] having expressed an interest in doing so in 2015.[3] The Nelson electorate had been held by National Party MP Nick Smith since 1996. She was also placed on the Labour party list at 48th place.[11] She finished runner-up, but lowered Smith's majority by 9.67%.

She was selected to stand in Nelson for Labour again in 2020.[9] In the 2020 general election, she was elected to the Nelson seat by a final margin of 4,525 votes, ousting the incumbent Smith.[12][13]

Official results for the 2023 New Zealand general election, as of 3 November 2023, showed Boyack retaining the Nelson seat by 29 votes over National's candidate Blair Cameron.[14] On 8 November, the National Party sought a judicial recount in the Nelson electorate.[15][16] On 10 November, the Electoral Commission confirmed that Boyack had won Nelson by a margin of 26 votes, three votes fewer than the final vote results.[17]

In late November 2023, Boyack became spokesperson for the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), arts, culture and heritage, and animal welfare in the Shadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Rachel Boyack – your student president" (PDF). VOS. No. 1. 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  2. ↑ Leov, Tasha (31 May 2016). "Nelson Cathedral invite youth to be choristers". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Knott, Stacey (14 April 2015). "Nelson union rep Rachel Boyack considering running for Labour". Nelson Mail. Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  4. ↑ Roberts, Adam (24 March 2011). "Students hit by hardship". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  5. ↑ "Union reps arrested at Nelson supermarket protests". Stuff.co.nz. 13 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  6. ↑ Long, Jessica (13 December 2016). "Online political clash 'out of hand' over Easter trading policy". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  7. ↑ Leov, Tasha (19 August 2016). "Nelson residents upset over proposed Westpac closures". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  8. ↑ Carson, Jonathan (22 September 2016). "Closure of Westpac's Stoke branch 'extreme arrogance', Grey Power says". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  9. 1 2 Sivignon, Cherie (12 November 2019). "Rachel Boyack returns as Labour Party candidate in Nelson for 2020". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  10. ↑ Anderson, Charles (20 January 2017). "Rachel Boyack selected as Labour Party candidate for Nelson". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  11. ↑ "Revised Labour Party List for the 2017 Election". Scoop.co.nz. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Nelson – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  13. ↑ "Election 2020: Nick Smith concedes seat in Nelson to Labour". Stuff. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  14. ↑ Ridout, Amy (3 November 2023). "Special votes swing Nelson back Labour's way by 29 votes but recount looms". Stuff. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  15. ↑ Perry, James (8 November 2023). "Judicial recounts confirmed in three electorates". Te Ao Māori News. Māori Television. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  16. ↑ Dexter, Giles (8 November 2023). "District Court confirms judicial recounts for Nelson, Mt Albert, Tāmaki Makaurau". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  17. ↑ "Labour's Rachel Boyack confirms 26-vote win in Nelson recount". Radio New Zealand. 10 November 2023. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  18. ↑ "Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins reveals new shadow Cabinet". Radio New Zealand. 30 November 2023. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
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