Ria Bond

Education

Bond attended Highbury Primary School (now known as Somerset Crescent School) and Queen Elizabeth College in Palmerston North.

Career

She was appointed to the House of Representatives as a New Zealand First list Member of Parliament following Winston Peters winning the March 2015 Northland by-election. Of Ngāti Hine and Ngāpuhi descent, Bond is the great-niece of Sir James Henare. Bond was a hairdresser in Invercargill and served as president of the New Zealand Association of Registered Hairdressers (2006–2012).

She left her salon in August 2014, just prior to the 2014 election, when she stood in the Invercargill electorate.

This was her first election contest. She placed third in that election and was 12th on the party"s list, with New Zealand First winning 11 list seats.

Following the election, Bond moved to Wainuiomata, working at Parliament as an executive assistant to Richard Prosser and Mahesh Bindra. Bond was sworn in on 28 April 2015.

Achievements

• When Peters won the Northland by-election on 28 March 2015 and became an electorate Member of Parliament, Bond was next in line and became a list Member of Parliament for her party.

Politics

She joined New Zealand First 2011 and was elected to the party"s national board in 2012.

Membership

51st New Zealand Parliament.