Tracey McLellan

McLellan was born in Sydney, Australia in May 1970, before moving to Southland, where she grew up in a state house. Her mother was disabled and unable to work.[2] McLellan moved to Christchurch in 2002. McLellan has a Master's degree from Massey University,[3] and a PhD in psychology from the University of Canterbury[4] and worked in academic psychology specializing in sports injuries and concussion, as a research scientist at the University of Canterbury. Later she became a union organiser for the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.[5][6]

McLellan has been a member of the Labour Party since 2011. She was chair of the electorate committee and was joint campaign manager to Ruth Dyson's campaign in the Port Hills electorate at the 2014 election.[5][6] In May 2019 she won a by-election to become vice president of the Labour Party. Following Nigel Haworth's resignation over his handling of abuse allegations within the party, McLellan (who was a member of a panel which dismissed initial complaints) became acting party president.[7]

She was selected as its candidate for the Banks Peninsula electorate in November 2019, ahead of three other nominees: Reuben Davidson, Joe Davies and Tyrone Fields.[6] In January 2020, McLellan identified ACC and health as portfolios in which she would like to make a difference, but says that her electorate has diverse needs from climate change effects in Sumner and Lyttelton, to education, health, housing and water issues.[2]

During the 2020 general election held on 17 October, McLellan was elected with a majority of 13,156 over National's Catherine Chu and Green Party Member of Parliament Eugenie Sage.[8]

McLellan is a single mother to two sons. One son, Jake, was elected a member of the Christchurch City Council in 2019. She credits her son with pushing her to join the Labour Party.[2]