Simeon Brown

Simeon Peter Brown[1] (born 8 April 1991)[2] is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party.

Simeon Brown

MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Pakuranga
Assumed office
23 September 2017
Preceded byMaurice Williamson
Majority10,050 (2020)
Personal details
Born (1991-04-08) 8 April 1991
Political partyNational
Spouse(s)Rebecca
Children1
Alma materUniversity of Auckland
ProfessionCommercial banker (prior to entering Parliament)
Websitesimeonbrown.co.nz

Political career

In his youth, Brown chaired the inaugural Manurewa Youth Council.[3]

Brown first entered the political scene in 2013 when he was elected a member of the Auckland Council Manurewa Local Board, on which he also served as deputy-chair.[4]

Brown stated, in an interview on his youth, that he was motivated to go into politics to stand up for the values of and fight for "hard work, personal responsibility and enterprise".[5]

In 2014 he contested the seat of Manurewa unsuccessfully for the National Party.[6]

He entered national politics at the age of 25, three years later at the 2017 general election, when Brown stood in the electorate of Pakuranga. The Pakuranga electorate has been a safe seat for National since 1987 and since then it had been held by Maurice Williamson. Brown was selected as the National Party's candidate to replace Williamson after he decided not to seek re-election.[7]

Brown entered a submission to parliament in which he opposed the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013 which allows same-sex couples to legally marry.[8]

Member of Parliament
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2017–2020 52nd Pakuranga 60 National
2020–present 53rd Pakuranga 37 National

Brown was elected to Parliament in the Pakuranga electorate in the 2017 New Zealand general election with a majority of 14,886 votes.[9]

In February 2018, a private member's bill introduced by Brown was drawn from the ballot. The Bill would ensure that anyone who supplies illegal synthetic drugs receives a penalty consistent with the penalty prescribed for supplying a Class C Drug.[10] The Bill was strongly supported by family members of synthetics victim Calum Jones.[11]

Brown voted against the Abortion Legislation Act 2020, which effectively seeks to remove abortion from the Crimes Act 1961.[12] Stuff political reporter Henry Cooke described the MP as "one of the most socially conservative MPs in [the National Party]".[13]

During the 2020 New Zealand general election, Brown was re-elected in Pakuranga by a strong margin of 10,050 votes,[14] making Pakuranga the safest seat for National in terms of the candidate vote.

In the November 2020 caucus reshuffle, led by National's leader Judith Collins, Brown was admitted to the Shadow Cabinet, ranking 20 on the National Party's list, and is now holding four shadow portfolios in Police, Serious Fraud Office, Youth and Corrections.[15]

Personal life

Prior to entering Parliament, Brown worked as a commercial banker as a senior associate with the Bank of New Zealand. He studied at the University of Auckland, attaining a conjoint degree in law and commerce in 2015.[4] Brown actively fought for the right of official affiliation at the University of Auckland for his group 'Prolife Auckland' while he was president.[16]

Brown lives in his electorate in Auckland with his wife Rebecca.

Their daughter was born in 2019.[17]

References
  1. "Daily progress for Tuesday, 7 November 2017". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  2. @simeonbrownmp (8 April 2019). "I did. I turned 28 today. Happy birthday to me" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. "Simeon Brown MP: Maiden speech". Simeon Brown. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  4. Taylor, PJ (24 March 2017). "Youthful banker gets nod in Pakuranga". Stuff. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  5. "First-term MPs: Simeon Brown on his youth, synthetic drug law, and door-knocking". Newshub. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  6. "Official Count Results – Manurewa (2014)". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  7. Jones, Nicholas (26 July 2016). "National and Pakuranga MP Maurice Williamson to leave Parliament". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  8. "Submission by Simeon Brown on the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Bill to the Government Administration Select Committee". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020.
  9. Commission, New Zealand Electoral. "E9 Statistics - Electorate Status". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020.
  10. "Bills (proposed laws)". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019.
  11. Leask, Anna (6 February 2018). "Synthetics: Family of victim team up with MP on law-change push". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019.
  12. Walls, Jason (8 August 2019). "How Members of Parliament voted in the first reading of the Abortion Legislation Bill". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  13. "Christopher Luxon faces a real challenge in National Party selection". Stuff. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  14. "Pakuranga - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  15. "Our Team". New Zealand National Party. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  16. ProLife Auckland. "Pro-Life Club Affiliates at University of Auckland | Scoop News". Scoop. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  17. "MPs open up, fight back tears during Abortion Legislation Bill in Parliament". 8 August 2019.
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by
Maurice Williamson		 Member of Parliament for Pakuranga
2017–present		 Incumbent
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