New Zealand First is announcing today that Michael Laws will stand for New Zealand First in the Waitaki Electorate at the general election.
Laws has spent more than four decades serving New Zealand through Parliament, local government, broadcasting and public advocacy. Born in Wairoa and raised in Whanganui, he graduated with First Class Honours in History from the University of Otago before completing a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at Victoria University. He was awarded a University Grants Committee Postgraduate Scholarship and was also a New Zealand Universities debating champion.
Laws entered Parliament in 1990, serving as a Member of Parliament for National and then New Zealand First until 1996. Following Parliament, he served as New Zealand First’s campaign director for the country’s first MMP general election in 1996.
He then established a successful career in broadcasting, publishing and journalism, becoming one of New Zealand’s best-known talkback hosts and the author of three bestselling books, including Gladiator: The Norm Hewitt Story. His work has spanned television, radio and print, earning a reputation as an independent and outspoken commentator.
Laws was elected Mayor of Whanganui in 2004 and re-elected in 2007, while also serving three terms on the district health board. As mayor, he championed innovative local initiatives, including pioneering anti-gang insignia bylaws that were later adopted nationally.
Since relocating to Central Otago in 2013, Laws has remained active in public service. He has represented the Dunstan constituency on the Otago Regional Council since 2016 and was comfortably returned as the leading vote-getter in the 2025 local body elections. He also helped establish Vision Otago, which secured significant representation on the council and now plays a leading role in its governance.
Laws has lived in the Waitaki electorate for more than a decade. His family has longstanding ties to the district: his father was Rector of Waitaki Boys’ High School, his youngest son attends St Kevin’s College in Oamaru, and Laws worked at Oamaru’s Brydone Hotel while studying at the University of Otago. He and his wife Cheryl live in Cromwell.
Laws will be an asset to the New Zealand First team bringing a wealth of experience, skills, and leadership to parliament.
