Rachel Elizabeth Boyack is a New Zealand politician and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

for the Labour Party.

Early life and career

For three years, Boyack was the student union president for Saniti, the student union for

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) is a public tertiary education institution at the top of the South Island in New Zealand. NMIT's main campus is in Nelson with other campuses in Blenheim, Marlborough, Woodbourne and Richmond. ...

. Following that, from about 2012 onward, she became the Nelson organiser of

First Union First Union Corporation was a bank holding company that provided commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, including mortgage banking, credit card, inv ...

. Her activities have included protesting pay at supermarkets, clashing with the mayor of Nelson, Rachel Reese, and opposing the closure of a bank's branch in Stoke. In 2018 she was appointed to the board of governors of the Nelson Environment Centre and was also on the board of the Nelson Women's and Children's Refuge. Boyack earned a

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of presc ...

degree from the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn ...

, and was the assistant director of music at Christ Church Cathedral in Nelson.

Political career

Boyack has been a member of the Labour Party since 2005. She was selected as its candidate for the Nelson electorate in January 2017, having expressed an interest in doing so in 2015. The Nelson electorate had been held by National Party MP Nick Smith since 1996. She was also placed on the Labour party list at 48th place. She finished runner-up, but lowered Smith's majority by 9.67%. She was selected to stand in Nelson for Labour again in . In the 2020 general election, she was elected to the Nelson seat by a final margin of 4,525 votes, ousting the incumbent Smith.

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) New Zealand trade unionists New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 21st-century New Zealand women politicians Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives University of Auckland alumni {{NewZealand-Labour-politician-stub