Louise Upston

Louise Claire Upston MP (née McGill, born 14 March 1971) is a New Zealand politician of the National Party. She has represented the Taupō electorate in the House of Representatives since the 2008 election. In the Fifth National Government, led by Prime Minister Bill English, she was the Minister of Corrections.

The Honourable

Louise Upston

MP
12th Minister of Corrections
In office
20 December 2016 – 26 October 2017
Prime MinisterBill English
Preceded byJudith Collins
Succeeded byKelvin Davis
Senior Government Whip
In office
29 January 2013 – 7 October 2014
Preceded byMichael Woodhouse
Succeeded byTim Macindoe
13th Minister for Women
In office
8 October 2014 – 20 December 2016
Prime MinisterBill English
Preceded byJo Goodhew
Succeeded byPaula Bennett
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Taupō
Assumed office
8 November 2008
Preceded byMark Burton
Majority5,119
Personal details
Born
Louise Claire McGill

(1971-03-14) 14 March 1971[1]
North Shore, New Zealand
Political partyNational
Children3
Websitewww.louiseupston.co.nz

Early life

Louise McGill was born in North Shore and grew up in East Coast Bays.[2] Her parents are Ian and the late Norma McGill. The youngest of four children, she has two sisters and one brother.[2] She attended Rangitoto College, from which she graduated in 1988, and where she was friends with Amy Adams.[3] Since before the age of ten, she had wanted to become a member of parliament.[4]

McGill dropped out of law school and instead founded a management consultancy firm, McGill Manning, when she was 19. Her clients included Air New Zealand, Russell McVeagh, and Datacom Group. She then studied at the Waikato Management School and graduated with a Master of Business Administration.[5]

McGill married Craig Upston, and they have three children.[2] The Upston family lives in Karapiro.[6]

Member of Parliament
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2008–2011 49th Taupō 53 National
2011–2014 50th Taupō 44 National
2014–2017 51st Taupō 27 National
2017–2020 52nd Taupō 19 National
2020–present 53rd Taupō 9 National

Upston was elected to Parliament at the 2008 general election for the Taupō electorate,[7] where she unseated Mark Burton, a Labour cabinet minister who had represented the area for 15 years.[8][9] She received attention in the media for comments made in her maiden statement to the House of Representatives, such as her slogan approach to crime: "The police are good. The criminals are bad. It's that simple."[10]

In the 2011 election, she more than doubled her majority to 14,115 votes.[11] This made Taupō one of the safest seats in the country.[12]

Upston was appointed to Junior Whip for the National Government after the 2011 election.[13] Following the February 2013 reshuffle by John Key, Upston was elected Chief Whip and joined by Tim Macindoe and Jami-Lee Ross who served as Junior and Third Whip in Parliament.[7]

During the 2014 election, Upston retained her seat in Taupō by a margin of 15,046 votes.[14] In October 2014, she became the Minister of Land Information and the Minister for Women.[15]

After Bill English succeeded John Key as Prime Minister in December 2016, Upston served as the Minister of Corrections.[16] That same month, she was succeeded as Minister of Women by Paula Bennett.[17]

During the 2017 general election, Upston retained Taupō by a margin 14,335 votes.[18]

During the 2020 general election, Upston retained Taupo by a margin of 5,119 votes.[19]

Political and social views

Alcohol age limit

In 2012, Louise Upton voted to raise the purchase age of alcohol to 20.[20]

Same-sex marriage

Upston is conservative on conscience issues: she voted against the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill in 2013.[21]

Feminism

In November 2014, Upston stated she is not a feminist when she sang praises of beauty pageants.[22][23] In April 2015, Upston refused to comment on women's rights in the work place after it was revealed John Key was forced to apologise to a Parnell cafe worker for repeatedly pulling her hair. Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei accused Upston of abdicating her responsibilities as Minister for Women.[24]

References
  1. Upston, Louise. "Video Update - 15 March 2011". louiseupston.co.nz. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  2. "Louise Upston's maiden speech". Waikato Times. 17 December 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  3. Vance, Andrea (22 July 2012). "Amy not afraid to speak her mind". Stuff.co.nz. The Sunday Star-Times. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  4. McKenzie-Minifie, Martha (14 October 2008). "National's big push paints Rotorua blue". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  5. "Louise Upston (MBA)". University of Waikato. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  6. "Hon Louise Upston". New Zealand National Party. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  7. "Hon Louise Upston". New Zealand Parliament. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  8. "MP keen to get cracking". Waikato Times. 10 November 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  9. "Official Count Results – Taupō". Chief Electoral Office. 22 November 2008. Archived from the original on 20 January 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  10. "Support the police, says Taupo's new MP". Stuff. New Zealand Press Association. 17 December 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  11. "Official Count Results -- Taupō". Electoral Commission. 10 December 2011. Archived from the original on 23 January 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  12. "Official Count Results -- Electorate Status". Electoral Commission. 17 December 2011. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  13. Malcolm, Rebecca (21 December 2011). "Louise Upston appointed junior whip". The Daily Post. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  14. "Official Count Results -- Taupō". Electoral Commission. 10 October 2014. Archived from the original on 22 January 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  15. Lang, Sarah (14 August 2015). "Politically correct". Now to Love. Are Media. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020.
  16. Jones, Nicholas (20 December 2016). "Corrections Minister: my views have changed". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  17. "Heavily criticised Louise Upston loses women's affairs portfolio to new minister Paula Bennett". 1 News. 18 December 2016. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  18. "Taupō - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  19. "Taupō - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  20. Hartevelt, John (30 August 2012). "No age rise for alcohol sales". Stuff. Archived from the original on 15 September 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  21. Singh, Harkanwal; Ball, Andy (17 April 2013). "Marriage equality bill - How MPs voted". Stuff. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  22. O'Neil, Andrea (30 November 2014). "Beauty pageants great for women - minister". The Sunday Star-Times. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  23. A'Court, Michele (3 December 2014). "Is the Pope a Catholic?". The Press. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  24. Kirk, Stacey (24 April 2015). "Female ministers close ranks around ponytail-pulling Prime Minister". Stuff. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by
Mark Burton		 Member of Parliament for Taupō
2008–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Michael Woodhouse		 Minister for Land Information
2014–2016		 Succeeded by
Mark Mitchell
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