Meet Sarah
Sarah lives in the electorate with her partner, Andy. She moved to Christchurch in 2004, and before being elected to serve as the MP for Ilam she worked as a midwifery lecturer at Ara Institute of Technology, having previously worked as a community midwife. Her two daughters, Alex and Bea, attended Ilam Primary School and are both now at university.
She has a strong sense of social justice, and is dedicated to ensuring that everyone has the same opportunities irrespective of their gender, ethnicity or background. She brings a positive attitude, an ethic of hard work, and boundless energy and enthusiasm to be a strong voice at a national level for the people of Ilam.
Read moreHer experience as a midwife includes working both at Christchurch Women’s Hospital and as a rural midwife. She served for three years as the President of the majority union of academic staff at Ara, a hands-on role underpinned by her ability to find productive solutions to a wide range of workplace issues, as well as successfully leading employment negotiations. Working in education and health care, and constructively liaising with senior managers, she is uniquely placed to understand the opportunities and challenges of both areas.
Her commitment to creating positive change inspired her to co-found the Canterbury Women’s Branch of the Labour Party, which she chaired until recently. At a national level, in 2018 she was elected as Co-Chair of the Labour Women’s Council, which represents all woman members of the Labour Party.
She was honoured to be elected in 2020 to serve as MP for Ilam and she looks forward to working hard to justify the trust of Ilam voters as their representative in Parliament.