Ria Bond will become the new list MP for New Zealand First now that Winston Peters is the MP for Northland.
Bond is of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Hine decent and is the grand-niece of Sir James Henare.
For six years she served as president of the New Zealand Association of Registered Hairdressers, representing 8000 owners and operators. She also had a dual role as a director on the Hairdressing Industry Training Organisation, which included being an NZQA governance and advisory panel member and is an active member of Rotary and has served on New Zealand First’s board.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said “We are confident she will devote herself to advancing the concerns of Southlanders, and those issues which need to be addressed, if there is to be an improvement in the lives of Southlanders, whether it be people here trying to get jobs, raise families, and live useful lives and not being forgotten by Wellington.”