A ministerial advisor has been selected as National's candidate for Kaipara ki Mahurangi, filling the safe blue seat left open after incumbent Chris Penk quit politics amid a failed party leadership challenge.
Jessica Rowe, a former journalist and foreign policy officer who currently advises Social Development Minister Louise Upston, has been confirmed as the party's candidate.
The electorate opened up last month when Christopher Luxon survived a confidence vote in his leadership, stripped Penk of all his portfolios and revealed the MP had launched the challenge. Penk announced hours later that he would not seek re-election.
Rowe was raised on her family's farm in Riverhead and attended Coatesville Primary School, with lifelong ties to the electorate, according to a party-supplied biography.
"Jessica's family run a century-old haberdashery business based in Auckland. Jessica also has business interests in New Zealand wool and property. This has given her a strong appreciation of the challenges that small businesses in New Zealand face."
The Opposition claimed Chris Penk was hung out to dry by the real instigators within National. (Source: 1News)
She began her career in journalism before completing a Master's in Global Diplomacy and worked at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, where she focussed on Asia and the Pacific.
Rowe said she was honoured to represent the party in her home community.
"I am excited to get to work, meeting locals across the electorate to re-elect a National Government and to be Kaipara ki Mahurangi’s next National MP," she said.
"It is an honour to represent National in my community … with the economic recovery underway, now is not the time to place more costs on Aucklanders."
Kaipara ki Mahurangi is a suburban and rural seat stretching across the northern reaches of the Auckland region, from the Northland border down to northwestern satellite towns.
The candidate was also previously a private secretary to the foreign, climate change and energy ministers. She has also been a board director of the Student Volunteer Army.
Christopher Luxon says dissident minister Chris Penk had to go but refuses to give caucus vote count. (Source: 1News)
Rowe said in an online profile she worked as a television journalist and producer for more than a decade before moving into foreign affairs, in outlets across New Zealand, Australia and the US. She has previously worked on TV3 programmes locally.
Rowe was also engaged to Ben King, the chief executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
How the safe seat came open
Penk, who held Kaipara ki Mahurangi for nine years, was sacked as a Cabinet minister last month after Luxon confirmed the MP had triggered that morning's confidence vote by launching a leadership challenge. It was the second such vote in four months.
The MP then announced his exit from politics that evening.
"I have reflected on my political future with my family tonight, and have decided I will not seek re-election,” he said in August.
"It has been a privilege to serve my community of Kaipara ki Mahurangi for the last nine years, and I am proud of the progress I have contributed to as a minister this term.
The National MP denied making calls on behalf of Erica Stanford. (Source: 1News)
"However, I have decided it is time for me to seek other opportunities to serve New Zealand."
Penk said he continued to back Luxon and the party.
It was widely speculated at the time that Penk — a Cabinet newcomer — was agitating on the issue of party leadership on behalf of other senior colleagues.
Rowe's selection follows weeks of speculation over the seat, which has widely been considered a safe National Party electorate.
List MP and minister Paul Goldsmith briefly floated a run before ruling it out, confirming he would continue his longstanding but otherwise unsuccessful candidacy in Epsom.
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