KAYE SHUNS INITIAL LIMELIGHT
National Party deputy leader Nikki Kaye is perhaps better known than new leader Todd Muller but she mostly kept out of the limelight during their inaugural press conference on Friday.
Aside from the few questions that came her way, the born and raised Aucklander stood dutifully by his side, nodding in agreement and praising him as ‘‘probably the most decent person’’ she knew.
The MP for Auckland Central is known for her socially liberal views compared to Muller’s more conservative outlook, which was the balance the new leadership had to strike.
‘‘Part of his strength is that he manages to bring people together a diverse range of views. So I have confidence he can unite the conservative people in our caucus and those who are liberals,’’ she said.
She issued ‘‘a strong message’’ for people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, who were ‘‘worried they would now have to work longer and harder, and potentially pay more taxes’’.
She would use her experience to reach them and provide an alternative vision, she said.
Going into the coup, Muller was a virtual unknown, while Kaye had the higher profile as a former minister and having beaten Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern twice in the former Labour stronghold of Auckland Central.
Kaye has a bachelor of science in genetics and a law degree from Otago University. The self-confessed ‘‘urban liberal’’ joined the National Party in 1998 and was the women’s vice-chair for the southern region of the Young Nationals.
In 2002, she worked as a policy researcher for Bill English in the Leader of the Opposition’s office. She then worked in policy and project management for councils in London and as an IT project manager for a Scottish bank.
She returned to Auckland in 2007 to contest National’s candidacy for the Auckland Central electorate, which she won and has held since.
Auckland Central was historically a Labour electorate before Kaye became the first National MP to win it, at the age of 28. She had a highprofile race to retain the seat in 2011, when she was challenged by Ardern and defeated her again in 2014.
Before the election in 2017, Kaye said the so-called ‘‘Jacinda effect’’ did not surprise her. ‘‘I’ve worked in Auckland Central with her for a period of time. Jacinda cares a lot, she’s charismatic.’’
Kaye’s assessment of Ardern was somewhat diluted from her comments when Ardern became Labour’s deputy leader, when she called the promotion a ‘‘superficial, cosmetic facelift’’ and said she couldn’t recall anything Ardern had achieved.
Kaye has a reputation for her grassroots grit and in the 2008 and 2011 elections, she was reported to have knocked on 10,000 doors.
Her victories have been by narrow margins, with more voters in 2014 supporting Labour and the Green Party overall than Kaye. ‘‘It’s always a tough fight,’’ she said in 2017.
Before the 2017 election, she vowed to remain in Parliament as long as the people of Auckland Central wanted her to. ‘‘It would be very difficult for me if I lost the seat. That’s where I would have to think really carefully about sticking around because I love being a constituency MP. It’s part of my DNA.’’
Until yesterday, she was seventh on National’s party list and had been the spokeswoman for education, as well as sport and recreation.
In January 2013, she was appointed to the Cabinet by Prime Minister John Key, who gave her the portfolios of food safety, civil defence, youth affairs, and associate minister of education and immigration.
Kaye said her promotion to education minister changed things for her. She had a greater profile and many of her constituents commented on how proud they were that their local MP had grown into such a role.
In September 2016, she took sick leave from Parliament after a breast cancer diagnosis. She returned in early 2017 and resumed her full duties after a double mastectomy.
While the experience was ‘‘terrible’’, Kaye said she had learned from her battle with cancer.
‘‘I’m a better minister and a better MP — I’m more focused on delivering because I don’t think there will always be a tomorrow.’’