Elizabeth Patricia Tennet (born 1953) is a former

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

politician.

Biography

Early life

Tennet was born in 1953 in

Feilding Feilding is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on New Zealand State Highway 54, State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council. ...

. She was educated locally before studying at Massey and Victoria University. Before entering politics, she worked as an official at the Department of Labour and as a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

organiser as general secretary of the Central Clerical Workers Union. Prior to entering Parliament, Tennet was involved in the Labour Party at an organisational level. She was a member of Labour's Women's Council, the Regional Council for the Wellington region and a member of Labour's National Executive.

Political career

She was an MP from 1987 to 1996, representing the Labour Party. She was first elected to Parliament in the 1987 elections as MP for the

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

electorate of Island Bay, replacing the retiring Frank O'Flynn. She gave birth to her son while an MP and travelled to Parliament with her 24-day-old child to attend a special caucus meeting in 1988 to support Prime Minister

David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Lange was also the Minister of Education ...

in a leadership challenge by sacked finance minister

Roger Douglas Sir Roger Owen Douglas (born 5 December 1937) is a retired New Zealand politician, economist and accountant who served as a minister in two Labour governments. He is most recognised for his key involvement in New Zealand's radical economic rest ...

. In 1990 she became Labour's junior

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

as well as becoming party spokesperson on employment and associate spokesperson on women's affairs. In 1993, Tennet was awarded the

New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 was established by Royal Warrant on 1 July 1993. It was created to commemorate Women's suffrage in New Zealand and to recognize those New Zealand and Commonwealth citizens who had made a significant ...

. In the 1995 local elections she was chosen as the Labour Party's candidate for the Wellington mayoralty to replace the retiring Fran Wilde. Tennet came second in the election behind Mark Blumsky. Media were anticipating a neck-and-neck result between herself and Blumsky, but Blumsky won a much larger majority than expected. Wilde did not support Tennet's candidacy thinking she was not right for the role and she was only standing for mayor because the Island Bay seat was being abolished at the next general election. Tennet and another MP, Graham Kelly, described Wilde as a turncoat for her criticisms. Tennet, the third woman to have a child whilst an MP, decided that her priorities had changed since entering politics in order to spend more time with her six-year-old son she decided to retire from parliament at the .

Later activities

In 2009, Tennet was appointed chief executive of industry development organisation Textiles New Zealand. In 2011 she became the chief executive of Community Law Centres o Aotearoa

Notes

References

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External links

Liz Tennet in 1987 (photo)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennet, Elizabeth Patricia Living people New Zealand Labour Party MPs 1953 births Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Recipients of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 New Zealand women chief executives