But grounded
very strong signal about the party that we are.’’
Chen was also keen to break down any barriers people might face in accessing politics, ‘‘not just for the Chinese community, but for all migrants and also for young people’’.
Aged 26, Chen is the second youngest MP – just four months older than GreenMP Chloe Swarbrick, who won the Auckland Central seat.
Chen came to New Zealand aged five from Beijing in China. That amigrant could ‘‘make it to Parliament at 26, that shows the country that New Zealand is and also the party that Labour is’’.
She studied law and choral conducting at Auckland University. The latter was a skill she shared with fellow newbie Labour MP Rachel Boyack, who won the seat of Nelson in October.
Boyack said her focus since the election had been on getting set up for the term. Two of three planned full-time staff had been appointed, and she had found a flat inWellington.
However, the hunt was still on for a suitable ground-floor site to establish her Nelson electorate office. ‘‘We have started going down to the NelsonMarket and the spot that [former Nelson electorate MP] Nick [Smith] used to have is now a spot for us because it’s for the MP for Nelson,’’ Boyack said.