Dan Bidois

Daniel Michael Bidois[1] (born 1983) is a New Zealand politician and economist who sat as the National Party Member for Northcote in the New Zealand House of Representatives. Bidois was elected on 9 June 2018 as the Member for Northcote. He was a Strategy Manager for Foodstuffs prior to his election.

Dan Bidois
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Northcote
In office
9 June 2018 – 17 October 2020
Preceded byJonathan Coleman
Succeeded byShanan Halbert
Personal details
Born (1983-02-24) 24 February 1983
Auckland, New Zealand
Political partyNational
Alma materHarvard University
University of Auckland
ProfessionEconomist
WebsiteNational Party profile

Early life and education

Bidois is both of European and Māori descent, adopted into a family of Ngāti Maniapoto descent. He grew up in Howick, Auckland and attended Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School, Howick Intermediate and Howick College. Bidois left Howick College at 15 to pursue a butchery apprenticeship, originally with Seaside Meats. Within two weeks of beginning his apprenticeship, he was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. He had chemotherapy and an operation to save his leg.[2][3] Having overcome cancer, Bidois decided to continue with his butchery career, completing an apprenticeship with Woolworths Supermarket in Newmarket.

Bidois later graduated with Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) and Bachelor of Arts degrees at the University of Auckland.

In 2010, Bidois won a Fulbright Scholarship to attend Harvard University in the United States, completing a Master of Public Policy degree in 2012.

Professional career

Bidois began his professional career as a management consultant with Deloitte New Zealand in 2008. In 2010, he joined the New Zealand Institute where he published research on improving New Zealand's economy. He spent three years as an economist with the OECD in Paris, France, working on economic reforms in emerging markets. In addition, he spent a further year in 2015 as an independent strategy consultant to the Malaysian public sector in Kuala Lumpur. He returned to New Zealand in 2016, and worked as a strategy manager for Foodstuffs.[4]

Parliamentary career

Bidois contested the National Party selection for Pakuranga upon the retirement of Maurice Williamson, but failed to win the candidacy. He stood as a list-only candidate in the 2017 general election, ranked 72.[5][6]

Member of Parliament
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
2018–2020 52nd Northcote National

On 22 March 2018, then-Member for Northcote Jonathan Coleman announced his resignation from Parliament, triggering the first by-election of the 52nd Parliament.[7] On 15 April, Bidois was chosen as National's candidate for the Northcote by-election,[4][8] which he subsequently won by 6.28%, receiving 10,566 votes and taking 50.67% of the overall vote.[9] Bidois was sworn into the 52nd Parliament on 27 June 2018 as the Member for Northcote and gave his maiden speech on 3 July 2018.

On 3 July 2018, Bidois was announced as National's Spokesperson for the Future of Work, and Associate Spokesperson for Workplace Relations and Safety. This created criticism due to his views on trade unions.[10]

Transport was a major campaign issue of Bidois' during the 2018 by-election. Since election he has challenged Auckland Transport on delivery of services locally including petitions with his Onewa Road petition gathering over 4,000 signatures.[11]

Ahead of the 2020 general election he was ranked at 43 on National's party list.[12] At the election, Bidois lost Northcote to his by-election Labour opponent, Shanan Halbert, by a final margin of 2,534 votes, and was ranked too low on National's list to return to Parliament as a list MP.[13][14]

References
  1. "By-election — Northcote". New Zealand Parliament. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  2. "Dropout wins scholarship to Harvard". New Zealand Herald. 23 June 2010.
  3. "Failure is a big part of the success of new Northcote MP Dan Bidois". New Zealand Herald. 10 June 2018.
  4. "National selects Northcote by-election candidate". Radio New Zealand. 15 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  5. "National releases 2017 Party List". Scoop. 30 July 2017. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  6. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1707/S00452/national-releases-2017-party-list.htm
  7. "Thursday, 29 March 2018 – Volume 728 – New Zealand Parliament". Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  8. "Labours Northcote candidate Shanan Halbert and Nationals Dan Bidois both kiwi battlers". Stuff (Fairfax). 1 May 2018.
  9. "Northcote by-election official results". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  10. "National Wants There To Be No Unions". The Standard. 30 November 2018.
  11. Flahive, Brad (18 July 2019). "North Shore locals petition Auckland Transport for solution to Onewa Rd congestion". Stuff.
  12. Scotcher, Katie (8 August 2020). "National unveils party list for 2020 election". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  13. "Northcote – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  14. Whyte, Anna (18 October 2020). "Analysis: The winners, losers, new faces and goodbyes of election 2020". 1 News. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by
Jonathan Coleman		 Member for Northcote
2018–2020		 Succeeded by
Shanan Halbert
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