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Ruth Dyson

The Honourable
Ruth Dyson
MP
portrait photo of a woman
Ruth Dyson in 2011
28th President of the Labour Party
In office
1988–1993
Leader David Lange
Geoffrey Palmer
Mike Moore
Preceded by Rex Jones
Succeeded by Maryan Street
Minister for Senior Citizens
In office
28 January 2003 – 19 November 2008
Prime Minister Helen Clark
Preceded by Lianne Dalziel
Succeeded by John Carter
Minister for ACC
In office
15 August 2002 – 5 November 2007
Prime Minister Helen Clark
Preceded by Lianne Dalziel
Succeeded by Maryan Street
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Lyttelton
In office
1993 – 1996
Preceded by Gail McIntosh
Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Labour party list
In office
1996 – 1999
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Banks Peninsula
In office
1999 – 2008
Preceded by David Carter
Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Majority 1,923 (4.78%)
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Port Hills
Assumed office
2008
Preceded by New constituency
Majority 3,452 (9.58%)
Personal details
Born (1957-08-11) 11 August 1957 (age 59)
Wellington
Nationality New Zealand
Political party Labour Party
Occupation Party official

Ruth Suzanne Dyson (born 11 August 1957) is a New Zealand politician. She is a member of the Labour Party and has been a Member of Parliament since 1993. Since the 2008 election, she has represented the Port Hills electorate.

Dyson was born in Lower Hutt. Her father served in the New Zealand Army, and so Dyson's family frequently moved around the country. Dyson joined the Labour Party in Westport in 1979, and worked as a campaign organiser for Labour MP Kerry Burke in the 1981 and 1984 election. In 1985, she moved to Wellington, where she worked with Labour MP Fran Wilde on the Homosexual Law Reform Bill. She worked for Wilde's re-election campaign in the 1987 election, and later held a number of senior offices in the Labour Party, including that of president.

Dyson first entered Parliament in the 1993 election, winning the Lyttelton electorate against National's David Carter. In the 1996 election, the Lyttelton electorate was abolished, and Dyson stood in Banks Peninsula, losing to Carter, who had in the meantime become an MP through winning the 1994 Selwyn by-election. She became a list MP owing to her position on the Labour Party's list. In the 1999 election, however, she defeated Carter to win Banks Peninsula. She has remained the MP for the area since that time; however before the 2008 election the boundaries were changed and it was renamed Port Hills.


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