Carlos Cheung

Chun Ho Carlos Cheung (Chinese: 張雋浩; Cantonese Yale: Jēung Jeun-houh) is a New Zealand politician. He was elected as a Member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for Mount Roskill, representing the National Party, in the 2023 New Zealand general election. Cheung has worked as a medical researcher and owned two property management companies.

Carlos Cheung
MP
張雋浩
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Mount Roskill
Assumed office
2023
Personal details
BornHong Kong
Political partyNational
ProfessionMedical researcher, property management

Career

Cheung was born in Hong Kong and moved to New Zealand as a teenager. He attended Auckland Grammar School and the University of Auckland, where he studied science and eventually graduated with a PhD in biological science. His 2013 thesis was on diabetes-induced cardiac disease, and his doctoral advisors were Garth Cooper and Shaoping Zhang.[1] He worked as a medical researcher but decided to leave research due to difficulty finding funding.[2] He set up Lifestyle Property Management in 2014, and later started a second company, Enfield Property Management.[3][2]

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2023–present 54th Mount Roskill 48 National

Cheung was announced as National's candidate for Mount Roskill in March 2023[3] and was also a National Party list candidate, ranked 48th. On election night, Cheung won the electorate with an 1,429-vote lead over incumbent Michael Wood.[4][5] Mount Roskill had been regarded as a safe seat for Labour, with Wood holding a majority of 14,000 votes in the 2020 election, leading to Cheung's win being called "one of the stand out upsets of the election".[6][7] If Cheung retains the seat when the final results are announced, he will be only the second Chinese MP to hold an electorate seat in New Zealand, the first being Pansy Wong.[8] Cheung stated that he plans to "reduce cost-of-living pressures and restore law and order in our community".[8] He also planned to reduce costs for landlords.[2]

Personal life

He is married to Fiona Lai, who was elected as a Communities and Residents candidate to the Puketāpapa Local Board in 2019 and 2022.[9][10] They live in Mount Roskill.[7]

References
  1. Cheung, Carlos (2013). Acquired copper imbalance in diabetes-induced cardiac disease: Molecular mechanisms and reversibility (PhD thesis). ResearchSpace@Auckland, University of Auckland.
  2. "New National MP on switching from science to property management". 1 News. 22 October 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  3. New Zealand National Party (28 March 2023). "Dr Carlos Cheung Selected As National's Candidate In Mt Roskill". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  4. https://electionresults.govt.nz/electorate-details-25.html
  5. "Red seats turn blue? National ahead in Labour's Auckland strongholds". NZ Herald. 15 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  6. Manhire, Toby (14 October 2023). "Poised to unseat Michael Wood in Mt Roskill, Carlos Cheung arrives to cheers". The Spinoff. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  7. Desmarais, Felix (16 October 2023). "New kids on the forecourt: Who are National's new MPs?". 1 News. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  8. Duoya Lu (16 October 2023). "Chinese candidates nervous about election fate". RNZ (in Chinese). Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  9. "Local board members" (PDF). Auckland Council. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  10. "Local elections 2022 – Local board member official results" (PDF). Auckland Council. 15 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
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