Grant McCallum

Grant McCallum
MP
McCallum in 2023
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Northland
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 October 2023
Preceded byWillow-Jean Prime
Personal details
Born
Grant Lewis McCallum

1964 or 1965 (age 59–60)
Political partyNational

Grant Lewis McCallum (born 1964 or 1965)[1] is a New Zealand politician representing the National Party as a Member of Parliament since the 2023 New Zealand general election.

Early life

McCallum's father, Ron McCallum, was the electorate chairman for the National Party in Kaipara and Whangārei.[1] McCallum moved to Northland in the 1970s. He studied agricultural commerce at Lincoln College,[2] graduating in 1988.[3] He owns a farm in Maungaturoto.[1] He is the chairperson of the Kauri Museum in Matakohe.[1] McCallum has been on the executive of the Bluegreens (the National Party environmental issues advisory group) since 2001, spent ten years serving on the National Party board (2005–2015), and was vice-president of the Northland branch of Federated Farmers.[1][4]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2023–present 54th Northland 68 National

McCallum contested the selection for the National Party candidacy for the 2015 Northland by-election, but lost out to Mark Osborne.[5] McCallum was the campaign chairman for MP Matt King in the 2020 general election, when King lost his seat.[6] After joining the 2022 protests at Parliament, King resigned from the National Party.[7]

McCallum was selected by the National Party to contest the Northland electorate at the 2023 election. He was 68th on the party list.[8] On election night McCallum received more than 16,272 votes, beating incumbent Willow-Jean Prime by a margin of 6,087 votes.[9]

Views and positions

McCallum identified the cost of living and regulatory burden on farmers as issues in his electorate.[1] After the election, he said "It’s a huge responsibility and Northland has quite a lot of challenges and big issues that we can’t fix overnight. We need to see what state the economy is in and we are going to have to really justify any spending we do."[10]

Personal life

McCallum has at least two children.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Jaime Lyth (20 October 2023). "Maungaturoto farmer announced as National's Northland candidate". NZ Herald. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  2. ^ Desmarais, Felix (16 October 2023). "New kids on the forecourt: Who are National's new MPs?". 1 News. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  3. ^ Graduation ceremony. Lincoln College, University of Canterbury. 6 May 1988. p. 7. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Meet The Candidate: Grant McCallum". Te Hiku Media. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Hopefuls line up for Northland". Radio New Zealand. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  6. ^ Peter de Graaf (20 October 2023). "Campaign boss: Ill-discipline, PM's popularity cost Nats the election". NZ Herald. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  7. ^ Michael Neilson (20 October 2023). "Former MP Matt King joins Parliament protest, resigns from National". NZ Herald. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  8. ^ Lyth, Jaime (20 March 2023). "Maungaturoto farmer announced as National's Northland candidate". The Northern Advocate. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Northland – Official Result". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  10. ^ a b Dinsdale, Mike; Jensen, Myjanne; Stone, Brodie (20 October 2023). "Election 2023: Northland back to National – Te Tai Tokerau result yet to be declared". NZ Herald. Retrieved 20 October 2023.