32 Facts About Grant Robertson

Grant Murray Robertson was born on 30 October 1971 and is a New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party who has served as the minister of finance since 2017 and served as the 19th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 2020 to 2023.

Grant Robertson has been the member of Parliament for Wellington Central since 2008.

Grant Robertson was elected Labour's deputy leader in 2011 under leader David Shearer, and contested the leadership of the party in both 2013 and 2014.

Subsequently, Grant Robertson was named the party's finance spokesperson and was ranked third on Labour's party list.

Grant Robertson was born in Palmerston North, the youngest of three boys.

Grant Robertson's father was an accountant, who was imprisoned in 1991 for stealing around $120,000 from the law firm he worked for.

Grant Robertson had a paper round as a boy and at 16 he got his first job at a New World supermarket in Dunedin in the fruit and vegetable department preparing fruit and vegetables for display and sale.

Grant Robertson attended King's High School in Dunedin, where he was head boy.

Grant Robertson then studied political studies at the University of Otago, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with honours in 1995.

Grant Robertson served as President of the Otago University Students' Association in 1993 and as co-president of the New Zealand University Students' Association in 1996.

Grant Robertson joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1997 after leaving university.

Grant Robertson returned to New Zealand during the first term of the Fifth Labour Government to work as a ministerial advisor to minister for the environment Marian Hobbs and, later, prime minister Helen Clark.

Grant Robertson was considered to be a front runner and was selected unopposed.

Grant Robertson ran a well-staffed campaign, based on local issues like the closure of the Crossways Community Centre and threats to the Public Service.

Grant Robertson was involved in the formation of a Wellington inner-city residents' association.

Grant Robertson was appointed as the opposition's spokesperson for State Services, and associate spokesperson for Arts, Culture and Heritage and Foreign Affairs by new Labour leader Phil Goff.

On 15 June 2010, Opposition Leader Phil Goff appointed Grant Robertson to be Portfolio Spokesperson for Tertiary Education and the 20th-ranked Labour MP, the highest of the 2008 intake of Labour MPs to be promoted at that point.

At the 2011 general election, Grant Robertson re-contested Wellington Central against eleven other candidates.

Grant Robertson was re-elected with 49.2 percent of the electorate vote, increasing his majority to 6,376 over National Party candidate Paul Foster-Bell.

In Shearer's shadow Cabinet, Grant Robertson served as Spokesperson for Employment, Skills and Training, and Arts, Culture and Heritage.

Under Cunliffe's leadership, Grant Robertson was the third-ranked Labour MP and held various portfolios including Spokesperson for Economic Development and Shadow Leader of the House.

Grant Robertson repeatedly called for her to resign during the Oravida saga, and when Collins later released information to the media about One News journalist Katie Bradford, he reiterated his call for her to resign, claiming she had "lost all perspective".

Grant Robertson was re-elected in the Wellington Central electorate in the September 2014 general election.

Grant Robertson was seen by some in the party as taking insufficient blame for the defeat.

Grant Robertson lost the leadership election to Andrew Little by a small margin, Little receiving 50.52 per cent of the vote to Grant Robertson's 49.48 per cent after the votes from the other unsuccessful candidates had been reallocated.

However Grant Robertson won the support of most of the caucus, as well as a majority of the membership.

On 27 June 2019, Grant Robertson was appointed as Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission, succeeding Megan Woods.

Grant Robertson was re-elected for a fifth term as Wellington Central MP at the 2020 general election, at which the Labour Party won an outright majority.

Grant Robertson retained Wellington Central by a margin of 18,878 votes.

Grant Robertson became deputy prime minister after deputy party leader Kelvin Davis declined the position.

In mid-February 2021, Grant Robertson pulled out of his weekly interview slots with Peter Williams' Magic Talk radio show after Williams questioned him about his views on the implications of the World Economic Forum's Great Reset for New Zealand.

Grant Robertson immediately responded that he would not be seeking election as her successor but that he would contest the 2023 general election.