Richard Worth - Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

Worth entered Parliament when he successfully stood as the National Party's candidate for the Auckland seat of Epsom in the 1999 election with a majority of 1,908. He was re-elected in the 2002 election with an increased majority of 5,619.

He lost his electorate seat in the 2005 election to the ACT New Zealand leader Rodney Hide. This was the result of a tactical voting message from Hide who had called on National voters to support him in order to elect a coalition partner for National, as otherwise ACT was unlikely either to win an electorate seat or to gain the five percent of the nationwide vote which would guarantee it list seats. Worth was however elected as a list MP. National's party vote in Epsom was the highest of any electorate in the country.

When John Key became National Party leader in November 2006, Worth relinquished his Justice and Auckland Issues spokesperson portfolios, and was given the portfolio for Economic Development.

Worth was re-elected on the party list in the 2008 general elections. National's highest party vote was again secured in Epsom.

On 19 November 2008, Worth became Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister for Land Information, Minister Responsible for Archives New Zealand, Minister Responsible for the National Library and Associate Minister of Justice.

In March 2009 a perceived conflict of interest arose following a private trip to India. Worth later disengaged from his Indian business interests and stepped down as chair of the New Zealand India Trade Group. Worth took the trip under a diplomatic passport, something normally reserved for official trips.