Maureen Pugh | |
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Member of the New Zealand Parliament for National Party list |
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Assumed office 9 February 2016 |
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Mayor of Westland | |
In office 2004–2013 |
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Succeeded by | Mike Havill |
Personal details | |
Born |
Maureen Helena Pugh 1958 (age 58–59) New Zealand |
Nationality | New Zealand |
Political party | National Party |
Other political affiliations |
Independent (as Mayor) |
Maureen Helena Pugh ONZM (born 1958) is a New Zealand politician who is a Member of Parliament and a member of the National Party. She has previously served as the mayor of the Westland District.
Pugh and her husband John live on their farm at Turiwhate, near Kumara.
Pugh was elected to the Westland District Council in 1998 and served two terms before being elected as the district's first woman mayor in 2004, succeeding John Drylie. In 2007 she was returned as mayor unopposed. She stood down at the 2013 elections and was succeeded as mayor by Michael Havill.
At the 2014 election she contested the West Coast-Tasman electorate for the New Zealand National Party. She was ranked number 52 on the National Party list, just missing out on a seat. Based on preliminary results, she would have entered Parliament, but in the final results, National's party vote was lower and the seat she would have taken was won by the Green Party (Steffan Browning). Pugh was first in line should there be a vacancy in a list seat held by a National Party MP during the 51st New Zealand Parliament, and following Tim Groser's resignation in December 2015, she was sworn in as a member of parliament on 9 February 2016 after the summer recess.