27 Facts About David Shearer

David James Shearer was born on 28 July 1957 and is a New Zealand United Nations worker and politician.

David Shearer was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Labour Party from 2009 to 2016, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2011 to 2013.

In 1992, David Shearer was named as New Zealander of the Year by The New Zealand Herald.

David Shearer was elected as leader of the Labour Party on 13 December 2011 but resigned on 15 September 2013, being succeeded by David Cunliffe.

David Shearer resigned from Parliament in December 2016 and in 2017 was appointed to head the United Nations peace keeping mission in South Sudan.

David Shearer was born and brought up in the Auckland suburb of Papatoetoe.

David Shearer was the eldest of three children in a family of schoolteachers.

David Shearer's father being a Presbyterian elder, he was a church-goer in his youth.

David Shearer attended Papatoetoe High School, where he was head boy and Phil Goff was a friend.

David Shearer graduated from the University of Auckland with a BSc and the University of Canterbury with a MSc in Resource Management.

David Shearer has conducted various assignments with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Save the Children Fund, and the International Crisis Group, and is the author of numerous publications in the areas of humanitarian affairs and conflict resolution.

From 1999 David Shearer served in various UN posts including Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for the United Nations in Rwanda, Senior Humanitarian Adviser in Albania and Chief of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Belgrade.

David Shearer left the United Nations to work as an adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Phil Goff for two years.

In 2002 David Shearer returned to the United Nations, serving as a Senior Adviser to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

In February 2003 David Shearer was appointed head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Jerusalem.

In 2007 David Shearer was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as his Deputy Special Representative for Iraq.

In March 2013 David Shearer admitted he had not declared a US-based bank account in which he received his salary from the UN, saying he had simply forgotten about it.

David Shearer then won the 2009 Mt Albert by-election on 13 June 2009 with 13,260 votes, a majority of 9,718 over National's Melissa Lee.

David Shearer extended his majority over Lee to 10,021 in the 2011 general election.

In December 2011, following the resignation of Phil Goff, David Shearer contested for leadership of the Labour Party.

David Shearer was viewed as unlikely to win the election; Claire Trevett of The New Zealand Herald originally expected that only Cunliffe and Parker would run for the leader's role, and The Dominion Post Vernon Small wrote that "Mr David Shearer's bid is seen as a way to lift his profile".

Political commentators opined that David Shearer was moving the Labour Party towards the centre.

David Shearer was described as "the invisible man of New Zealand politics".

On 20 August 2013, a stunt involving David Shearer holding up two dead snapper in Parliament, while questioning the Government about proposed changes to recreational fishing management, was not well received.

David Shearer announced his resignation as Labour leader on 22 August 2013, stating that: "My sense is I no longer have the full confidence of many of my caucus colleagues".

David Shearer's resignation forced a by-election in the Mount Albert electorate, which was won by list MP Jacinda Ardern, who would go on to lead Labour to victory at the 2017 general election.

In 2023, David Shearer was conferred an honorary Doctor of Commerce degree by Lincoln University.