James McDowall

James Samuel McDowall[1] is a New Zealand politician who was elected to the New Zealand parliament at the 2020 general election as a representative of the ACT New Zealand party.

James McDowall

MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for ACT party list
Assumed office
17 October 2020
Personal details
Political partyACT
Alma materUniversity of Waikato
Universiteit Maastricht

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2020–present 53rd List 6 ACT

McDowall stood for ACT in the Hamilton East electorate in the 2017 general election, but received only 140 votes.[2] He was also placed 13th on the ACT party list, but ACT did not win enough party votes to be entitled to any list MPs.[3]

In the 2020 general election, McDowall was placed 6th on the ACT party list and ran for the electorate of Waikato.[4] He focused on raising awareness of ACT rather than his own individual electorate.[2] McDowall came third in Waikato,[5] while ACT won 7.6% of the party vote, entitling it to ten MPs including McDowall.[6][7]

McDowall is the ACT Party's spokesperson for Economic Development, Research, Science and Innovation, Immigration, Defence, and Tourism.[8]

During the Commission Opening of the 53rd New Zealand Parliament, McDowall repeated his oath in Cantonese, attracting significant attention – "over a million views" – in Hong Kong.[9][10]

Personal life

McDowall was born in New Zealand and has a PhD in marketing.[4][11] He is a small business owner, owning several small businesses including an immigration law firm.[2] He has also worked for the Wise Group, one of the largest providers of mental health and wellbeing services in New Zealand. He has a daughter who, as of 2020, is two years old.[12]

References
  1. "Event". New Zealand Parliament. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  2. Rowland, Tom (7 October 2020). "Vote 2020: Act Party on track to have Waikato list candidate in Parliament". NZ Herald. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  3. "Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  4. Wade, Amelia (5 August 2020). "Election 2020: Party of 6? Meet the Act team who could soon become MPs". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  5. "Waikato - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  6. "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result". Electoral Commission. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  7. "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  8. "James McDowall". ACT New Zealand. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  9. "Praise heaped on ACT MP James McDowall for swearing allegiance in Cantonese". Newshub. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  10. "感動港人｜新西蘭議員廣東話宣誓獲網民激讚 謙虛自嘲：不是故意讀成「雞成人」". Apple Daily. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  11. Doyle, Katie (1 August 2020). "Top five contenders who could join ACT leader David Seymour in Parliament". Radio NZ. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  12. "Election 2020: Nine new ACT members are about to enter Parliament". Stuff. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.


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