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Maureen Pugh

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Maureen Pugh
ONZM MP
Pugh in 2014
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for National Party list
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 March 2018
Preceded byBill English
In office
9 February 2016 – 23 September 2017
Preceded byTim Groser
Mayor of Westland
In office
2004–2013
Preceded byJohn Drylie
Succeeded byMike Havill
Personal details
Born
Maureen Helena Pugh

1958 (age 65–66)
New Zealand
Political partyNational Party
Other political
affiliations		Independent (as mayor)

Maureen Helena Pugh ONZM (born 1958)[1][2] is a New Zealand politician who is a Member of Parliament for the National Party. She has twice appeared to have won a list seat based on preliminary results, then missed out on a seat when the final results came in, then entered Parliament anyway to replace a retiring MP. In her third election, in 2020, she outright won a list seat.

She has previously served as the mayor of the Westland District.

Political career

Westland District Council

Pugh was elected to the Westland District Council in 1998 and served two terms before being elected as the district's first woman mayor in 2004, succeeding John Drylie.[3] In 2007 she was returned as mayor unopposed.[4] She stood down at the 2013 elections[5] and was succeeded as mayor by Michael Havill.[6]

While serving as mayor of Westland District Council, Pugh was accused of failure to declare a financial conflict of interest.[7][8]

General elections and Member of Parliament

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2016–2017 51st List 52 National
2018–2020 52nd List 44 National
2020–present 53rd List 19 National

2014 election and first tenure

In the 2014 general election Pugh contested the West Coast-Tasman electorate as the candidate of the New Zealand National Party.[9][10] Also ranked number 52 on the National Party list, she just missed out on winning a list seat.[11] Based on preliminary results, she would have entered Parliament,[12][13] but in the final results, National's proportion of the party vote reduced and the Green Party's Steffan Browning won the seat she would have taken.[11] Pugh remained first in line should a vacancy arise in a list seat held by a National Party MP during the 51st New Zealand Parliament, and following Tim Groser's resignation in December 2015 she was sworn in as a member of parliament on 9 February 2016 after the summer recess.[14]

2017 election

In the 2017 general election Pugh had a higher ranking of 44 in the National Party list, and again preliminary results indicated that National had won enough seats (58) for Pugh to return to Parliament. However, the official count showed that National had won two fewer seats than the preliminary count indicated, meaning that Pugh did not return to Parliament. Due to her history of going in and out of parliament frequently due to special votes, Pugh describes herself as the 'Yo-yo MP'.[15] As before, Pugh was in line to enter Parliament if there were resignations, and in February 2018 Pugh and several other "next-in-line" list candidates attended National's parliamentary caucus meeting to help ease their transition into parliament should they enter.[16] In March 2018, Bill English resigned from Parliament and Pugh was declared elected as a list MP.[17][18]

In Opposition

National Party leader Simon Bridges, who was in office from 2018 to 2020, described Pugh as "fucking useless" in a phone call with Jami-Lee Ross that Ross released on Facebook in October 2018. After the release of the recording, Bridges apologised to Pugh.[19] Pugh later voted with the majority against Bridges in the May 2020 leadership election.[20]

During the 2020 general election, preliminary results again showed that Pugh would enter Parliament as a list MP, having lost the West Coast-Tasman electorate.[21] This time, final official results showed that she had retained her list seat.[22][23] On 10 November, following the release of the final results, the National caucus elected her as its Junior Whip.[24] Following the counting of special votes Pugh was confirmed as an MP. In line with previous elections she had been anticipating losing her seat once again and had already packed up her office belongings, which she had to have sent back to parliament.[25]

In February 2022 Pugh expressed support through Facebook for Convoy 2022, a protest group who travelled to Wellington on occupied the grounds of parliament, protesting vaccine mandates as well as some opposing the vaccine itself. Pugh later amended, then deleted the post, and said she did not realise many of the protesters were against Covid-19 vaccination.[26]

Views and positions

Pugh revealed in 2016 that she does not believe in pharmaceutical drugs, saying that she never takes any kind of medication and has only ever given her children chiropractic treatments. She said that nature delivers whatever people need, and that "there's nothing wrong with getting a cold or getting a flu – if you have a healthy immune system you can deal with it."[27][28] The following day she wrote "I do support the use of pharmaceuticals, such as Panadol and anaesthetic".[29] Pugh was one of the last Members of Parliament to receive a Covid-19 vaccination.[26]

On cannabis, Pugh said that she did not support its decriminalisation, having seen its negative effects on some people, but she was not opposed to people "smoking or digesting a natural plant", adding, "I'm just talking about giving the poor lady whose got lymphoma a plant to smoke, which she can grow in her backyard."[27]

Personal life

Pugh and her husband John live on their farm in a mountain valley at Turiwhate, near Kumara.[30] The house's former copper piping acted as a conductor for electrical storms, and Pugh has been struck by lightning twice.[31]

In the 2014 New Year Honours, Pugh was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to local government.[32]

References

  1. ^ Moore, Bill (30 August 2014). "Candidates stretch out to win votes". Nelson Mail. p. 13.
  2. ^ Carroll, Joanne (8 December 2015). "West Coast – Tasman list MP is back in parliament". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  3. ^ Fraser, Rebekah (2013). "Pugh challenged for mayoralty". Greymouth Star. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Westland District Mayor". Vote.co.nz. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  5. ^ Conway, Glenn (16 December 2013). "Former Westland mayor to stand for National". The Press. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  6. ^ "Election results: Around the country". The New Zealand Herald. 12 October 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  7. ^ Lee, Julian (18 June 2013). "Westland District Council sued by heliport operators". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  8. ^ Lee, Julian (9 May 2013). "Councillors wild at Mayor's edit". Greymouth Star. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  9. ^ "Pugh to seek Coast seat". The Nelson Mail. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  10. ^ Mills, Laura; McMahon, Brendon (2014). "Pugh awaits National Party nod". Greymouth Star. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  11. ^ a b Rutherford, Hamish (4 October 2014). "National loses majority, Greens pick up one". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 4 October 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  12. ^ Mathewson, Nicole; Stylianou, Georgina; Fulton, Tim (21 September 2014). "Election 2014: Canterbury decides". The Press. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  13. ^ Farrar, David (21 September 2014). "Election 2014: All the MPs for each party, plus those who failed to make the cut". National Business Review. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  14. ^ Small, Vernon (7 December 2015). "Groser makes way for Collins' return". The Press. p. A1. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  15. ^ "'Yo-yo MP' Maureen Pugh not counting on bounce from special votes". RNZ. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  16. ^ "National caucus presents united front". RNZ. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  17. ^ "Maureen Pugh back in Parliament after Bill English's retirement". Stuff.co.nz. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  18. ^ "New List MP for New Zealand National Party". Electoral Commission. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  19. ^ Rutherford, Hamish. "Simon Bridges describes MP colleague as 'f...ing useless' in recorded conversation". Stuff. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  20. ^ "MP called 'useless' by Simon Bridges gets last laugh". Stuff. 22 May 2020.
  21. ^ "West Coast-Tasman – Preliminary Count". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  22. ^ "2020 General Election and Referendums – Official Result Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ^ "Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern responds to the final election and referendum results". Stuff. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  24. ^ McCulloch, Craig; Scotcher, Katie (10 November 2020). "Shane Reti becomes new deputy leader of the National Party". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  25. ^ Maxwell, Joel (10 November 2020). "National's yo-yo MP Maureen Pugh had already started packing after election, but will remain". Stuff. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  26. ^ a b "Convoy protest: National MP Maureen Pugh deletes post thanking protesters, says she didn't know they were antivax". Stuff. 10 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  27. ^ a b Moir, Jo (9 June 2016). "National MP Maureen Pugh doesn't believe in pharmaceutical drugs". Stuff. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  28. ^ "West Coast National MP Maureen Pugh 'doesn't need' panadol" – via www.newshub.co.nz.
  29. ^ {Cite web|title=National MP Maureen Pugh says she isn't an anti-vaxxer|work=Stuff|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/80955639/national-mp-maureen-pugh-says-she-isnt-an-antivaxxer%7Clast=Moir%7Cfirst=Jo%7Caccess-date=16 February 2022}
  30. ^ Moore, Bill (8 December 2015). "West Coaster Maureen Pugh going back to Parliament after early setback". Stuff. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  31. ^ Mills, Laura (25 January 2021). "Pugh recalls lightning shock – twice!". Hokitika Guardian. p. 3.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  32. ^ "New Year honours list 2014". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
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