A politician from the age of 18
WELLINGTON: JamiLee Ross started his political career as a Manukau City councillor at the age of 18 and was elected as an MP at 25 — making him the youngest MP at the time.
He convincingly won the Botany seat in the January 2011 byelection after National MP Pansy Wong resigned following a row over the use of her travel perk.
He was reelected in the electorate in the November 2011, 2014 and 2017 elections.
He served as one of the National Party whips in Parliament and had been on the business and transport and infrastructure select committees.
On October 2 this year, he stood down from his roles due to personal health issues.
And yesterday he resigned from the National Party and gave up the Botany seat, saying he would seek reelection as an independent in the byelection.
But it was not always plain sailing for Mr Ross.
His mother was 18 when Mr Ross was born, and ‘‘not in the best space to raise a child’’. So his grandmother, Sharron Martin, took on the task, raising the boy in a modest Papatoetoe home before shifting to Pakuranga, where Mr Ross, who loved swimming, was closer to a good pool.
Mr Ross says he has a good relationship with his mother, Lisa Helmling, but his father has never been in his life. Mr Ross is Ngati Porou from his father’s side, though he says he knows little of his whakapapa, his history and heritage.
He boarded at Dilworth School, the Auckland college which helps pupils from struggling families.
By his own admission Mr Ross was not a diligent pupil.
From Dilworth he went back out east, to Pakuranga College.
At 16 he quit classrooms for good and got a job as a lifeguard at the Lloyd Elsmore swimming complex.
He also took to flying, where he chalked up the hours to get a private pilot’s licence.
For the past few years, Mr Ross has been studying politics and economics at Auckland University.
In 2004, the teenaged Mr Ross won his first political contest, becoming a Manukau City councillor. By this time he was a National Party member and moved into the orbit of Pakuranga MP Maurice Williamson, working parttime as the MP’s electorate agent. The MP became his mentor.
In May 2008, Mr Ross married Lucy Schwaner, a police fingerprint analyst.
The couple met when Ms Schwaner, who was studying archaeology, wanted to learn about Howick’s heritage.
She was sent to Mr Ross, who was on the community board, in search of documents.
‘‘I just kept finding excuses to keep meeting up with her and it went from there.’’
And then there is that name. ‘‘When I was about to be born they [his parents] didn’t know whether I would be a boy or girl. They seemed to like it,’’ he explained.