Matthew Maurice Doocey was born on 1972 and is a New Zealand politician who was elected to the New Zealand Parliament at the 2014 general election as a representative of the New Zealand National Party.
15 Facts About Matt Doocey
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Matt Doocey was re-elected in 2017 with a majority increase of over 10,000 which was a significant increase from a majority of 2,500 in 2014.
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At the time, Matt Doocey was a manager for the Canterbury District Health Board.
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When Kate Wilkinson, National MP for the Waimakariri electorate, announced in early November 2013 that she would retire at the end of the term of the 50th Parliament, rumours immediately surfaced that Matt Doocey is going to replace her as the candidate in the Waimakariri electorate, and the Christchurch East by-election was for him to gain experience in contesting an election.
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Matt Doocey left his job in June 2014 to focus on the Waimakariri election campaign.
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Matt Doocey beat the Labour Party's candidate Clayton Cosgrove with an increased majority compared to the 2011 election.
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Also in his first term, Matt Doocey was appointed the third Whip of the National Government.
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Matt Doocey was appointed Spokesperson for Mental Health and is National's Associate Spokesperson for Health, and a member of the Health Select Committee.
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Matt Doocey believed that by initiating a bipartisan approach to mental health this would break down some of the barriers to progress to improve mental health outcomes in New Zealand.
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Matt Doocey was named Backbencher of the Year in Stuff's political awards 2020, and following the election, the National caucus elected him as its Senior Whip on 10 November.
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Matt Doocey served in this role until December 2021, when he joined the National Party front bench under the new leader Christopher Luxon.
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Matt Doocey was appointed to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's Cabinet.
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Matt Doocey grew up in Christchurch and attended St Bede's College for his secondary schooling.
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Matt Doocey worked in mental health and healthcare management in both New Zealand and the UK.
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Matt Doocey studied Counselling Psychology at Weltech, has a BSc in Social Policy, an MA in Healthcare Management from Kingston University in London and an MSc in Global Politics from Birkbeck, University of London.