36 Facts About Nicola Willis

Nicola Valentine Willis was born on 7 March 1981 and is a New Zealand politician who is currently deputy leader of the National Party since 2021.

Nicola Willis is currently the Minister of Finance, the Minister for Social Investment, the Minister for Economic Growth, and was the Minister for the Public Services in the Sixth National Government.

Nicola Willis became her party's deputy leader in 2021, following the election of Christopher Luxon as party leader.

Nicola Willis was born and raised in Point Howard, Lower Hutt.

Nicola Willis's mother was a journalist in the Parliamentary Press Gallery, her father a partner in corporate law firm Bell Gully who later rose to be chairman of the New Zealand Energy Corporation, an "active oil and gas exploration company".

Nicola Willis's great-great-grandfather, Archibald Willis, was a Liberal Party member of Parliament from 1893 to 1896 and 1899 to 1905.

Nicola Willis graduated with a first-class honours degree in English literature from Victoria University of Wellington in 2003 and a post-graduate diploma in journalism from the University of Canterbury in 2017.

Nicola Willis was a member of the Victoria University Debating Society, competing in international tournaments.

Nicola Willis was asked to "dial it back a little" for fear of denting her candidate's confidence.

In 2012, Nicola Willis joined dairy co-operative Fonterra in a lobbyist role.

Nicola Willis was later a general manager of Fonterra's nutrient management programme, and sat on the board of Export NZ, a division of lobbyist group Business New Zealand.

Nicola Willis was a director of the New Zealand Initiative, a pro-free-market public-policy Atlas Network linked think tank, from May 2016 until February 2017.

Nicola Willis contested the 2017 election as National's candidate for the electorate of Wellington Central, and was number 48 on the party list.

Nicola Willis was second in line to fill a National Party list vacancy; she entered parliament several months later, after the resignation of Steven Joyce in March 2018.

Nicola Willis was vocal against Grant Guilford's unsuccessful attempt to change Victoria University of Wellington's name to the University of Wellington.

Nicola Willis was a key player in Todd Muller's move to replace Bridges as party leader in a 2020 leadership coup, playing the role of Muller's "numbers man" alongside Chris Bishop.

Nicola Willis was rewarded with a ranking of 14 in the party caucus, and the housing and urban development portfolios.

Under Muller's replacement Judith Collins, Nicola Willis was ranked 13th in caucus and given the education portfolio.

Nicola Willis was seen by media and political commentators as a contender for the party leadership or deputy leadership.

Nicola Willis picked up the finance portfolio in March 2022 when Bridges announced his resignation.

In early August 2023, Nicola Willis introduced a private member's bill to allow parents to share their paid parental leave entitlement and take time off together.

In mid September 2023, Nicola Willis admitted that only 3,000 households would get the full tax relief under National's proposed tax policy, but denied that National had misled voters about its tax plan.

Nicola Willis said she would resign if National failed to deliver on its tax reduction plan.

Nicola Willis was re-elected to Parliament on the National Party list.

In late November 2023, Nicola Willis was appointed as Minister of Finance, Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Social Investment, and Associate Minister of Climate Change.

In mid December 2024, Nicola Willis claimed she had 'delivered' on the ferries when the coalition government announced a new company would be established to procure two new vessels.

Nicola Willis will have three shareholding ministers: Simeon Brown, Nicola Willis and Winston Peters, who was given a new responsibility as the Minister for Rail.

On 20 December, 2023 Nicola Willis unveiled the Government's mini-budget, which she said would deliver NZ$7.47 billion in operational savings.

Nicola Willis criticised the previous Labour Government for allegedly allowing the Ministry to overspend for several years.

In late May 2024, Nicola Willis delivered the 2024 New Zealand budget, which delivered NZ$14 billion worth of tax cuts ranging from NZ$4 and NZ$40 a fortnight for all workers earning more than NZ$14,000.

Less than a month later, Nicola Willis projected that the New Zealand Treasury's finances would remain in deficit until at least 2029 due to declining tax revenue and rising expenses.

Nicola Willis has proposed introducing a new economic benefit test for awarding good, services and refurbishment contracts over NZ$100,000, and construction contracts over NZ$9 million.

Nicola Willis confirmed that the 2025 budget would focus on health, education, law and order, defence, with some limited spending on critical "social investments," supporting business growth and targeted cost of living relief.

Nicola Willis is described as a social liberal, and has a focus on LGBT rights and action on climate change.

Nicola Willis is a member of the National Party's BlueGreen environmental caucus.

Nicola Willis married Duncan Small in 2007, and they have four children.