Chlöe Swarbrick has become the new co-leader of the Green Party less than 10 years after her attention-grabbing run for the Auckland mayoralty.
1News charts her rise through the political ranks.
2016: A fresh face in Auckland’s mayoral race
Swarbrick first came to the public’s attention when she decided to run for one of the top jobs in local politics – the Auckland mayoralty – at the age of just 22.
Swarbrick said she was inspired to run after interviewing the other contenders for the job on her bFM radio show. She was disillusioned both with them and the traditionally poor voter turnout numbers in local elections, so decided to shake things up.
Swarbrick surprised many with her campaign and a relatively strong showing in the results. She finished third behind former Labour leader Phil Goff and business leader Vic Crone, picking up nearly 30,000 votes.
2017: A bigger political stage
Swarbrick’s achievements in that mayoralty race did not go unnoticed at the Beehive.
She told the NZ Herald at the time she had been approached by more than one political party but she eventually decided to hitch her wagon to the Greens.
The rising political star sat at number nine on the Green Party list for the 2017 general election and shortly thereafter became a list MP. At the age of 23, she was the youngest MP to enter Parliament in more than 40 years.
2019: International fame beckons
Swarbrick garnered worldwide attention in 2019, although not so much for her politics than for her ability to deal with a heckler in parliament.
National MP Todd Muller interrupted Swarbrick while she was speaking about the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill. Without missing a beat, Swarbrick shot back with an "OK, boomer", a response that quickly went viral.
She was simultaneously hailed for the quick retort and accused of being ageist.
2020: A promotion and an electoral victory
2020 was another big year for Swarbrick.
She shot up the Greens’ ranks to sit third on the party’s list ahead of the general election and surprised many by also scooping a win in the Auckland Central electorate.
It was only the second time a Green Party candidate had won an electorate, following the late Jeanette Fitzsimon’s win in Coromandel in 1999.
The 2020 election wasn’t all good news for Swarbrick though. The referendum that year on legalising cannabis in New Zealand, a cause near and dear to Swarbrick’s heart, failed to gather enough support to proceed.
2023: A 'crybaby' wins Central Auckland again
Swarbrick remained at number three on the Greens’ list going into the 2023 general election. She was re-elected as the MP for Auckland Central, increasing her winning margin to nearly 3900 votes.
Swarbrick had notably hit headlines earlier that year after fellow Green MP Elizabeth Kerekere appeared to call her a "crybaby" in a text message sent to their colleagues.
Swarbrick told media she had been called worse before, adding that she held "absolutely no malice" towards Kerekere, who eventually resigned from politics.
2024: Stepping into the co-leadership vacancy
Now, at the age of 29, Swarbrick will join Marama Davidson as co-leader of the Green Party, stepping into the role vacated by James Shaw earlier this year.
It is the first time the party will be led by two women, after the party changed its rules around co-leaders in 2022, abolishing the need for one of the leaders to be male.
In announcing her bid to be co-leader last month, Swarbrick said she would use the role to "grow the Green movement to achieve tangible, real-world, people-powered change".
"That means more Green members across the country, running local campaigns and implementing local solutions," she said.
"It means more Greens local body members, councillors and mayors. It means more Greens MPs in Parliament and ultimately, our nation's first Green-led government."
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