Ruth Dyson - Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

Dyson first entered Parliament in the 1993 election, winning the Lyttelton electorate. In the 1996 election, the Lyttelton electorate was abolished, and Dyson stood in Banks Peninsula, losing to National's David Carter. She became a list MP owing to her position on the Labour Party's list. In the 1999 election, however, she defeated Carter to win Banks Peninsula. She has remained the MP for the area since that time; however before the 2008 election the boundaries were changed and it was renamed Port Hills.

When the Labour Party won power in the 1999 general election, Dyson was appointed to a number of minor ministerial roles, including Disability Issues and Associate Health and Associate Social Development. However, she resigned them on 31 October 2000 after being caught drunk driving. She regained most of her ministerial responsibilities on 4 June 2001.

In a reshuffle on 31 October 2007, Dyson took on the portfolio of Social Development, which she held until the Clark government lost power at the 2008 general election. Despite the swing against Labour at that election, Dyson won her new electorate of Port Hills with an increased margin than that of Banks Peninsula.

In December 2009 Dyson's Resource Management (Requiring Authorities) Amendment Bill, which would amend the Resource Management Act 1991 to reintroduce a public interest test for projects seeking requiring authority, was drawn from the member's ballot. The bill was defeated at its first reading.

Dyson was re-elected to as the MP for Port Hills at the 2011 General Election. She is currently the Labour spokesperson for Conservation, Senior Citizens, and Internal Affairs.