Barbara Edmonds

Edmonds' parents came to New Zealand from Western Samoa in 1978 and was also raised by her stepmother after her mother died when she was 4 years old. She was born in North Shore, Auckland and attended Carmel College. Her school was next door to North Shore Hospital where members of her family were working in the kitchen, laundry and as cleaners.[3] She married and had eight children.[4] Edmonds was a parent elected member of the Board of Trustees of Mana College.[5]

Edmonds is a specialist tax lawyer, and before entering Parliament, worked in both the private and public sectors. She has worked for three different ministers across two governments.[3] She was seconded from Inland Revenue to work for Ministers of Revenue including Judith Collins.[6]

In August 2020, Edmonds was ranked 49th on the Labour Party's list.[7]

During the 2020 election, she won Mana by a large margin of 16,244, defeating National Member of Parliament Jo Hayes.[8] Following the election, she was appointed as Labour's associate whip on 2 November.[9]