Nancy Lu
MP
陆楠
Lu in 2023
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for National party list
Assumed office
25 November 2023
Preceded byAndrew Bayly
Personal details
Born1987 (age 36–37)
China
Political partyNational
Residence(s)Auckland, New Zealand

Nancy Nan Lu (simplified Chinese: 陆楠; traditional Chinese: 陸楠; pinyin: Lù Nán; born 1987) is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party.

Personal life

Lu was born in China in 1987.[1][2] She moved to New Zealand with her parents in 1997. She received her New Zealand education from Avondale Primary School, Pakuranga Intermediate, and Macleans College. She then attended Auckland University, from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in international business and accounting as a double major.[3] Lu graduated with a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School of Government in May 2023.[4] She is married with two daughters.[3]

Career

After university, Lu worked as a chartered accountant for PwC, EY, Fonterra, among others, and was based in New Zealand, Hong Kong and China.[3] She now lives in Auckland, New Zealand. She has been a board member for the Chinese New Settlers Services Trust, an organisation that supports new Chinese immigrants in New Zealand.[5] Lu has been a board member on ContainerCo (NZ) Ltd in New Zealand.

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2023–present 54th List 20 National

At the 2020 election she stood for parliament for the National Party and was ranked 26th on the party list. She was the highest-ranking new candidate for National, ranked ahead of 17 sitting National MPs,[5] and was given one of the few list-only slots that National allowed for.[6] Lu was National's only candidate of Chinese ethnicity in 2020;[7] National's previous only Chinese MP, Jian Yang, resigned prior to the 2020 election.[5] National's highest-ranked candidate who entered parliament during the 53rd term was Harete Hipango placed at 21; hence Lu was not elected.[8]

The National Party released its list for the 2023 general election on 19 August 2023. Lu was in 20th place, the highest-ranked candidate not already in parliament.[9] She became the highest ranked National list candidate not elected in the general election held on 14 October 2023. Andrew Bayly had been expected to win the Port Waikato seat, but another candidate for Port Waikato died after advance voting had started, so the electorate votes were not counted and Bayly was elected from the list ahead of Lu.[10] Bayly then won a by-election for Port Waikato held on 25 November 2023 and vacated his list seat, which was taken by Lu.[11]

References

  1. ^ "National selects Nancy Lu as List only candidate". National Party. p. 8 August 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  2. ^ Manch, Thomas (8 August 2020). "Election 2020: National Party announces list of MPs and candidates for upcoming election". Stuff. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "National Selects Nancy Lu As List Only Candidate" (Press release). New Zealand National Party. Scoop. 8 August 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Accountant Nancy Lu selected as National Party candidate". 30 July 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Sachdeva, Sam (8 August 2020). "Nancy Lu biggest surprise in National list rankings". Newsroom. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  6. ^ Wade, Amelia (8 August 2020). "Who's up, who's down in National's new list rankings". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  7. ^ Du, Yu (2022). An interpretive case study of Chinese New Zealanders' political participation in Aotearoa New Zealand (doctoral thesis). University of Auckland. p. 75. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  8. ^ "National MP Nick Smith quits as an MP, cites 'employment issue' inquiry". The New Zealand Herald. 31 May 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  9. ^ Coughlan, Thomas (19 August 2023). "Election 2023: Christopher Luxon unveils list, senior MP withdraws". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  10. ^ Sowman-Lund, Stewart (24 November 2023). "Next on the list: Nancy Lu's political future hangs on Port Waikaro". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  11. ^ Stanford, Emma (26 November 2023). "Port Waikato by-election: National's Andrew Bayly wins by landslide – 'I feel pretty humbled'". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
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