Megan Woods
| Dr Megan Woods | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Megan Woods in 2011 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 November 1973 |
| Political party | Labour (since 2007) |
| Other political affiliations |
Progressive Party (1999–2007) |
| Website | Profile on Labour website |
Megan Woods (born 4 November 1973) is the Labour Party Member of Parliament for the Wigram electorate of the New Zealand Parliament.
Early life
Woods was born and grew up in Wigram, Christchurch.[1] She has a PhD in history obtained at the University of Canterbury.[2]
Professional life
Woods was a business manager for Crop & Food Research (2005–08) and its successor organisation Plant and Food Research (2008), based at Lincoln.[1]
Political career
Woods was a member of the Progressive Party from 1999 to 2007 and was involved in several of Jim Anderton's re-election campaigns.[3] She contested the Christchurch Central electorate in the 2005 general election and came fourth, receiving 1077 votes (3.2% of the electorate votes).[4] She was placed fourth on the Progressive party list. As the party obtained only 1.2% of the party vote, she did not enter Parliament that year.
She was a member of the Spreydon–Heathcote community board in Christchurch in 2004–2007.[1]
Woods joined the Labour Party in 2007.[3] In the same year, she contested the Christchurch mayoralty for the centre-left Christchurch 2021 group, receiving 32,821 votes and coming second against Bob Parker (47,033 votes), but beating Jo Giles (14,454 votes) in the election contested by ten candidates.[5][6] She did not contest the 2008 general election or the 2010 mayoral election.
Woods was chosen as the Labour Party candidate for the 2011 election in the Wigram electorate.[1][3] She succeeded Jim Anderton, who had announced that he would retire either after winning the Christchurch mayoralty (he was unsuccessful) or at the end of the term of the 49th Parliament in November 2011. Woods was a key member of Anderton's campaign committee, along with key Progressive Party members like Jeanette Lawrence and Liz Maunsell, and Labour activists such as campaign manager Tony Milne, Ben Ross and Liana Foster.[7] Until the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, Anderton was leading in the opinion polls, and winning the mayoralty would have caused a by-election in the Wigram electorate.[8] The earthquake resulted in a mood swing in Christchurch, and Anderton lost against Bob Parker.[9] Anderton remained an MP until the end of the term of the 49th Parliament, and Woods won in the 2011 general election in the Wigram electorate.[3]
Member of Parliament
| Parliament of New Zealand | ||||
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party |
| 2011–present | 50th | Wigram | 47 | Labour |
Woods' candidacy, which began in late 2010, is centred around job creation in her electorate. She stated in her Labour selection speech that "Growing up here in the 1980s, I watched people lose their jobs. I saw workplaces like the Addington Workshops shut their doors forever. Now I am 36 years old and am watching jobs disappear from our communities again."[3] Woods also cited the rising cost of living for everyday people as a major concern.
At the election, Woods won the seat with 45.11% of the vote and a majority of 1,500 votes.[10] She is currently Labour spokesperson for Tertiary Education and associate spokesperson for Science and Innovation.[11]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Megan Woods. |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Conway, Glenn (20 September 2010). "Anderton follower chosen for Wigram". The Press. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
- ↑ "Dr Megan Woods". Plant & Food Research. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Megan Woods to stand for Labour in Wigram". 3 News. 19 September 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
- ↑ "Official Count Results -- Christchurch Central". Election NZ. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
- ↑ Edward Gay and James Ihaka (13 October 2007). "New faces aplenty in local government shake-ups". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
- ↑ "Christchurch City Mayor". Local Elections 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
- ↑ accessdate=30 October 2010
- ↑ Booker, Jarrod (12 September 2010). "Anderton presses on with mayoral bid". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
- ↑ "Parker re-elected in Christchurch". The Press. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
- ↑ 2011 election results
- ↑ "About Megan".
| New Zealand Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jim Anderton |
Member of Parliament for Wigram 2011– |
Incumbent |