Todd Keith Barclay (born 8 June 1990) is a former New Zealand politician of the National Party. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Clutha-Southland at the 2014 general election. In 2017, Barclay resigned from parliament in disgrace after a scandal involving secret recordings he made.[2][3]
Todd Barclay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Clutha-Southland | |
| In office 20 September 2014 – 23 September 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Bill English |
| Succeeded by | Hamish Walker |
| Majority | 13,583 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Todd Keith Barclay 8 June 1990[1] Dipton, New Zealand |
| Political party | National |
Early life edit
Barclay was born in 1990 in Dipton, where his parents Maree and Paul Barclay operated the Four Square supermarket.[4][5] The family moved to Gore, where Barclay attended Gore High School, before graduating from Victoria University of Wellington with a Bachelor of Commerce in Commercial Law.[4]
Prior to his election, Barclay worked at Parliament for Bill English (the MP he later replaced), Gerry Brownlee and Hekia Parata before moving to Auckland and working for Philip Morris.[1][6] Barclay has insisted that with regards to working for a tobacco company, his ethics are strong: "I don't smoke, I don't encourage smoking".[1]
Political career edit
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2017 | 51st | Clutha-Southland | 54 | National | |
Barclay won the election by a significant margin to Labour's Liz Craig,[7] obtaining nearly 64% of the candidate votes.[8] Barclay was the first New Zealand MP to be born in the 1990s and at the time of his election, at age 24 he was the youngest MP in the House of Representatives.[1]
On 10 April 2015 Barclay featured in news media for criticising supporters of current affairs television show Campbell Live which had been threatened with cancellation. He subsequently deleted his Twitter comment.[9]
In November 2016, media reports indicated that Queenstown resident Simon Flood intended to challenge Barclay for selection as the National candidate for Clutha-Southland at the 2017 election.[10][11] At a party meeting on 21 December 2016 to select the candidate for the Clutha-Southland electorate in 2017, Barclay won the selection over challenger Simon Flood.[12]
Clandestine recording scandal edit
On 9 February 2016, Glenys Dickson, a senior electorate agent for Barclay, resigned because of an "employment problem" between the two. Dickson, originally the electorate agent for Bill English from 1998 to 2014, became Barclay's agent in 2014 after he replaced Bill English as the MP for Clutha-Southland. The circumstances leading to her resignation were described as confidential.[13] Later that month Stuart Davie, the Clutha-Southland chairman, became the third resignation of Barclay's staff in 2016, Barbara Swan being the first. Davie claimed it was "untenable" to stay on at present.[14]
On 21 June 2017, after revelations that Barclay had made clandestine recordings of staff members he suspected of being critical of him, Barclay announced that he would not stand for re-election.[2][3] Secretly recording a conversation that you are not party to is a crime in New Zealand.[15][16][17] He subsequently left New Zealand and moved to London,[18] later moving to Sydney.[citation needed]
References edit
- ^ a b c d Rutherford, Hamish (29 April 2014). "Who is National's Todd Barclay?". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
- ^ a b "Government gives secret payment to MP Todd Barclay's former employee over clandestine recording". Stuff.co.nz. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
- ^ a b [1] [dead link]
- ^ a b "National Selects Todd Barclay For Clutha-Southland" (Press release). National Party. 27 April 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ^ "New Local National Party Candidate". Dipton Community Website. Archived from the original on 26 September 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ^ Ibbotson, Lucy; Roxburgh, Tracey (12 May 2014). "I'm Todd Barclay. I'm from Dipton. Can I have a job?". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ^ "Election 2014: Southland decides". The Southland Times. 20 September 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ^ Hayes, Lauren; Railton, Bridget; Jamieson, Debbie (20 September 2014). "Landslide win for Barclay". The Southland Times. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ^ McLeod, Hannah (10 April 2015). "National MP Todd Barclay blasts Campbell Live supporters". The Southland Times. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- ^ "National MP Todd Barclay facing selection challenge in Clutha-Southland". Stuff.co.nz. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ^ "Selection row in National electorate could cut MP's career short". Politik.co.nz. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ^ "Barclay remains National Party Clutha Southland candidate". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ^ Harding, Evan (25 February 2016). "Clutha-Southland MP Todd Barclay's senior staffer resigns". The Southland Times. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
- ^ Harding, Evan; Pickett, Brittany (29 February 2016). "National party Clutha-Southland chairman Stuart Davie resigns". Stuff. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
- ^ "216A Interpretation". Government of New Zealand. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
- ^ "216B Prohibition on use of interception devices". Government of New Zealand. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
- ^ Satherley, Dan (23 June 2017). "Resign now, former staffer tells Todd Barclay". Newshub. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
- ^ "How the Todd Barclay story got here". Stuff.co.nz. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.