Leighton James Baker is a New Zealand political candidate and businessman.
18 Facts About Leighton Baker
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Leighton Baker was leader of the New Conservative Party from 2017 to 2020, and has contested every general election since 2008, initially for the Kiwi Party, without success.
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Leighton Baker participated in the 2022 Wellington protests, and was arrested on 2 March 2022 on charges of trespassing and obstruction.
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Leighton Baker stood for the Kiwi Party in the 2008 general election, the only election it contested.
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Leighton Baker stood for it in the 2011 and subsequent elections.
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Leighton Baker was on the board of the Conservative Party until he resigned from it in March 2015, with then-leader and founder Colin Craig saying that Leighton Baker did not want the commitment of board meetings.
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The board ran the party in place of a single leader from after Craig's resignation until 24 January 2017, when it announced Leighton Baker was the new party leader.
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Leighton Baker stated that, despite thinking the move was unfair, he would not follow Colin Craig's footsteps by taking the matter to court.
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Leighton Baker contested the Epsom electorate in the 2017 New Zealand general election held on 23 September.
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In early October 2020, Leighton Baker unsuccessfully challenged public broadcaster TVNZ's decision to exclude the New Conservatives from the TVNZ Minor Parties' election debate.
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Leighton Baker contested Waimakariri in the 2020 New Zealand general election held on 17 October, coming third place with 2,057 votes.
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Leighton Baker told The Spinoff that he was "obviously disappointed," and that he would spend some time considering whether to remain involved with the party.
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Leighton Baker sometimes acted as a liaison between the police and the protesters.
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Leighton Baker was released on bail under the condition that he neither breach nor encourage anyone else to breach COVID-19 health orders.
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Leighton Baker attended a private school in Auckland and moved to North Canterbury in the early 1990s.
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Leighton Baker has worked on a stud sheep farm in Dargaville, and as a builder, and now runs a residential and commercial building companies.
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Leighton Baker is the owner of Concise Construction, a Rangiora-based firm that has been involved in reconstruction following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
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Leighton Baker's daughter Chantelle Leighton Baker is a social media influencer who has promoted anti-vaccine, disinformation, and conspiracy theories.