Elizabeth Tennet
# Elizabeth Tennet

Elizabeth Patricia Tennet (born 1953) is a former New Zealand politician.

## Biography

### Early life

Tennet was born in 1953 in Feilding. She was educated locally before studying at Massey and Victoria University. Before entering politics, she worked as an official at the Department of Labour and as a trade union organiser as general secretary of the Central Clerical Workers Union.

Prior to entering Parliament, Tennet was involved in the Labour Party at an organisational level. She was a member of Labour's Women's Council, the Regional Council for the Wellington region and a member of Labour's National Executive.

### Political career

She was an MP from 1987 to 1996, representing the Labour Party. She was first elected to Parliament in the 1987 elections as MP for the Wellington electorate of Island Bay, replacing the retiring Frank O'Flynn. She gave birth to her son while an MP and travelled to Parliament with her 24-day-old child to attend a special caucus meeting in 1988 to support Prime Minister David Lange in a leadership challenge by sacked finance minister Roger Douglas.

In 1990 she became Labour's junior whip as well as becoming party spokesperson on employment and associate spokesperson on women's affairs. Tennet, the third woman to have a child whilst an MP, decided that her priorities had changed since entering politics in order to spend more time with her six-year-old son she decided to retire from parliament at the 1996 election.

In 1993, Tennet was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.

In the 1995 local elections she was chosen as the Labour Party's candidate for the Wellington mayoralty to replace the retiring Fran Wilde. Tennet came second in the election behind Mark Blumsky.

### Later activities

In 2009, Tennet was appointed chief executive of industry development organisation Textiles New Zealand. In 2011 she became the chief executive of Community Law Centres o Aotearoa

