Tracey McLellan

Tracey Lee McLellan (born 20 May 1970) is a New Zealand politician. From 2020 to 2023, she was a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party.^[1] In 2024, she re-entered parliament after the resignation of fellow Labour List MP Rino Tirikatene.^[2]

Tracey McLellan MP
McLellan in 2023
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Labour Party list
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 January 2024
Preceded by	Rino Tirikatene
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Banks Peninsula
In office 17 October 2020 – 14 October 2023
Preceded by	Ruth Dyson (as MP for Port Hills)
Succeeded by	Vanessa Weenink
Vice-president of the New Zealand Labour Party
In office 20 May 2019 – 7 May 2021
Preceded by	Beth Houston
Succeeded by	Carol Beaumont
Personal details
Born	(1970-05-20) 20 May 1970 (age 55)
Political party	Labour
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Canterbury

Early life

McLellan was born in Sydney, Australia in May 1970, before moving to Southland, where she grew up in a state house. Her mother was disabled and unable to work.^[3] McLellan moved to Christchurch in 2002. McLellan has a master's degree from Massey University,^[4] and a PhD in psychology from the University of Canterbury^[5] and worked in academic psychology specialising in sports injuries and concussion, as a research scientist at the University of Canterbury. Later she became a union organiser for the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.^[6][7]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament

Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
2020–2023	53rd	Banks Peninsula	53		Labour
2024–present	54th	List	27		Labour

Labour Party activism

McLellan has been a member of the Labour Party since 2011. She was chair of the electorate committee and was joint campaign manager to Ruth Dyson's campaign in the Port Hills electorate at the 2014 election.^[6][7] In May 2019 she won a by-election to become vice president of the Labour Party. Following Nigel Haworth's resignation over his handling of abuse allegations within the party, McLellan (who was a member of a panel which dismissed initial complaints) became acting party president.^[8]

She was selected as its candidate for the Banks Peninsula electorate in November 2019, ahead of three other nominees: Reuben Davidson, Joe Davies and Tyrone Fields.^[7] In January 2020, McLellan identified ACC and health as portfolios in which she would like to make a difference, but says that her electorate has diverse needs from climate change effects in Sumner and Lyttelton, to education, health, housing and water issues.^[3]

Member of Parliament

During the 2020 general election held on 17 October, McLellan was elected with a majority of 13,156 over National's Catherine Chu and Green Party Member of Parliament Eugenie Sage.^[9]

In 2023 general election McLellan led the contest for Banks Peninsula on the election night preliminary count, but lost the seat to National's Vanessa Weenink after special votes were counted.^[10][11] She was ranked 27th on Labour's party list, too low to win a list seat given Labour's collapse in the election, and so left Parliament.^[12]

In late January 2024 she returned to parliament as a List MP following the resignation of Rino Tirikatene.^[13] Following the resignation of Grant Robertson in mid-February 2024, McLellan assumed the Corrections and Associate Health portfolios in the Shadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins.^[14][15]

In early March 2025, McLellan gained the Christchurch Issues portfolio. While she retained the corrections portfolio, she lost the associate health portfolio.^[16] On 11 March 2025, McLellan was appointed junior whip of the Labour Party.^[17]

Family

McLellan is a single mother to two sons. One son, Jake, was elected a member of the Christchurch City Council in 2019. She credits her son with pushing her to join the Labour Party.^[3]