Tanya Unkovich: MP for the "Freedom Movement"

When the "Freedom movement" got in behind NZ First, most of their candidates were too far down the list to get seats in parliament, but one wasn't.

Tanya Unkovich styles herself as a voice for “forgotten New Zealanders”

New Zealand First has had a tumultuous decade in politics. Despite historically being known for promoting anti-immigrant populism (fear mongering about an “Asian invasion” in the 1990s and about Muslims in the 2000s) the party has not been shunned by the mainstream and has been part of both National and Labour led governments. It was while serving as Foreign Minister under Jacinda Ardern’s Labour government that much of leader Winston Peters' base turned against him.

As foreign minister he would be the one signing the UN Global Compact on Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration. The compact was subject to a global disinformation campaign by the far-right, which Peters, to his credit, called out and refused to be swept up in. He suffered at the ballot box. NZ First had received 186,706 votes in the 2017 election, but as smaller parties, in particular New Conservative, capitalised on Peters supposedly hypocritical support for the migration compact, that fell to just 75,020, putting them well short of the 5% threshold required for representation in parliament.