Erica Louise Stanford is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party.
29 Facts About Erica Stanford
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Erica Stanford currently serves as the 49th Minister of Education and the 60th Minister of Immigration in the Sixth National Government of New Zealand.
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Erica Stanford holds a Bachelor of Arts in politics from the University of Auckland, and cites a lecturer, Dr Raymond Miller, as the reason for her passion for politics.
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Erica Stanford is married, meeting her husband Kane while at Rangitoto College, and has two children.
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Erica Stanford has worked in export sales as well as producing local television shows.
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Erica Stanford produced the show Last Chance Dog, and wrote scripts and did other work on Piha Rescue for more than six years.
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In 2013, Erica Stanford started working in the office of Murray McCully, the MP for East Coast Bays.
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Erica Stanford took the place of her sister who previously worked for McCully.
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Erica Stanford joined the National Party at the same time.
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Erica Stanford later worked there full time, and prior to running for parliament, she held the role of Senior MP Support.
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Erica Stanford had not previously stood for parliament or other office.
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Erica Stanford retained East Coast Bays by a margin of 8,764 votes.
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Erica Stanford was promoted as the spokesperson for education and associate spokesperson for Ethnic Communities while retaining her portfolio for immigration on 6 December 2021, in the Shadow Cabinet of Christopher Luxon.
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Erica Stanford said that the Government had inherited an education system "bordering on crisis".
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Erica Stanford confirmed that the Ministry of Education had identified 350 projects that had exceeded their budget and had paused 20 building projects.
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On 29 April 2024, Erica Stanford announced the Government's top six educational priorities to mark the start of the second term.
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On 2 May, Erica Stanford confirmed that the Government would be mandating a structured literacy approach in all state schools from 2025.
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On 26 May 2024, Erica Stanford announced that the Government would invest NZ$53 million in education including in-school training for new teachers and recruiting, retaining and training 1,500 new teachers over the next four years.
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On 26 September 2024, Erica Stanford announced the Government would allocate NZ$30 million from the "Te Ahu o te Reo Maori" teacher training programme to revamping the school maths curriculum.
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On 21 November 2024, Erica Stanford apologised after allegedly swearing at Labour's education spokesperson Jan Tinetti during a Parliamentary Question Time session.
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In mid-February 2025, Erica Stanford reversed Associate Education Minister David Seymour's decision to scrap "teacher only days" during the 2025 school terms.
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Erica Stanford approved four "teacher only days" in 2025 for state schools to implement the new curriculum.
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In late June 2024, Erica Stanford announced that low-skilled Accredited Employer Work Visa holders at Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations levels 4 and 5 would no longer be able to sponsor work, visitor or student visa applications for partners and dependent children.
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Erica Stanford had earlier said that changes to the AEWV scheme were prompted by the Government's desire to strike a balance between recruiting highly-skilled migrants and reducing pressure on infrastructure, health and education services.
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The Union Network of Migrants, a division of FIRST Union, criticised Erica Stanford for failing to engage with migrants, community groups and migrant advocates.
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On 18 December 2024, Erica Stanford announced that the Government would offer survivors of torture at Lake Alice Hospital a lump payment of at least NZ$150,000, having set aside NZ$22.68 million for the redress scheme.
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On 19 February 2025, Erica Stanford confirmed that the Government had established a NZ$2 million dual purpose fund to honour children who had died in care in unmarked graves and to support community initiatives for abuse survivors.
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Erica Stanford supported decriminalising abortion and allowing euthanasia in conscience votes in 2019.
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Erica Stanford has sat on the environmental select committee and has been involved in developing National's environmental policies.