Munokoa Poto Williams was born on 7 January 1962 and is a New Zealand Labour Party politician and a member of Parliament.
15 Facts About Poto Williams
2.
Poto Williams was elected in a 2013 by-election and served as Minister of Conservation and Minister for Disability Issues in the Sixth Labour Government.
3.
Poto Williams was born in Wellington and grew up in Auckland, where she attended Beresford Street School and Auckland Girls' Grammar.
4.
Poto Williams has worked for the Ministry of Education, BirthRight, Healthcare NZ and disability agencies.
5.
Poto Williams has served as a member of the Community Child Protection Review Panel, was involved in the Waitakere Community Law Service and Community Waitakere, and was part of the Living Wage Campaign and the LIFEWISE Big Sleepout.
6.
Poto Williams moved from Auckland to Christchurch's suburb of New Brighton in January 2013 to take up a position as regional manager of the St John of God Hauora Trust but resigned from that role to run for Parliament later that year.
7.
Poto Williams won selection as Labour's candidate over five other candidates including future Christchurch city councillor Deon Swiggs and James Caygill.
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Poto Williams convincingly defeated National's candidate Matt Doocey, securing 61 per cent of the vote.
9.
On 28 January 2014, Poto Williams was sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives for the first time.
10.
Poto Williams held her electorate over National candidate Jo Hayes by 4,073 votes in the 2014 general election.
11.
Poto Williams defeated Hayes again in 2017, by 7,480 votes, and new National candidate Lincoln Platt in 2020 by 17,336 votes.
12.
Poto Williams became Labour's junior whip when Jacinda Ardern became leader in September 2017.
13.
Poto Williams was nominated and elected an Assistant Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives.
14.
The National Party challenged her nomination for the office because Poto Williams had not been sworn in as a member of Parliament for that term yet.
15.
Poto Williams voted in favour of the Abortion Legislation Bill in March 2020 and against the End of Life Choice Bill in December 2019.