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Claire Elizabeth Szabó is a New Zealand chief executive officer and was president of the New Zealand Labour Party from 2019 to 2022.

Biography

Her father came to New Zealand as a refugee from Hungary in 1956 following the Hungarian Uprising, her mother was a nurse. She grew up in Papakura in a council house.

After finishing her high school education at Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland, she studied music at the University of Auckland and later gained degrees at Trinity College Dublin in Education Management, Victoria University of Wellington in Commerce and Administration, and Harvard University in Public Administration.

In 2006, aged 27, she became the chief executive officer of English Language Partners New Zealand. In 2013, she became the chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity New Zealand. In 2010, she was both named young executive of the year and won the New Zealand Institute of Management award.

Szabó joined the Labour Party in 2007 and stood as the Labour candidate in the electorate of North Shore at the 2014 election, and was number 38 on the party list. She was defeated by the incumbent, Maggie Barry of National Party by a margin of 16,503 votes. On 30 November 2019, she was elected President of the Labour Party following the resignation of Nigel Haworth earlier that year.

In 2021, Szabó was appointed to the board of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, alongside Chris Finlayson.

On 17 June 2022, Szabó announced that she will not seek re-election to the Labour Party presidency at the November 2022 annual conference, and will end her tenure then. She told The New Zealand Herald that she has reflected on standing for Parliament again at the 2023 general election, but said "I know definitively it's too early to make a decision." She was succeeded by Jill Day, the former Deputy Mayor of Wellington, at the party's conference in November 2022.

In February 2023, Szabó was one of four candidates vying for the Labour nomination in Wellington Central for the 2023 election. She was unsuccessful with list MP Ibrahim Omer winning the selection contest.

Personal life

She is married to Rowan Johnston, a choir conductor, and has two children.

Szabó speaks fluent Hungarian, the mother tongue of her father.

Notes

1. ^ "Labour elects Habitat for Humanity CEO Claire Szabó as party president". Stuff. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
2. ^ "Young executive makes her mark". Stuff. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
3. Szabo, Claire (2010). The Not-For-Profit Chief Executive: An Insider View (Master of Commerce and Administration thesis). Open Access Repository, Victoria University of Wellington. doi:10.26686/wgtn.17011577.v1.
4. "Official Count Results – North Shore (2014)". Electoral Commission. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
5. Ministry For Culture And Heritage (3 August 2021). "Hon Chris Finlayson And Claire Szabó Appointed To The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Board". Scoop. Scoop Media. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
6. Neilson, Michael (17 June 2022). "Labour Party president Claire Szabó to stand down, won't rule out running as an MP". The New Zealand Herald. NZME. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
7. Coughlan, Thomas. "Wellington councillor to become Labour President". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
8. Coughlan, Thomas (27 February 2023). "Former president Claire Szabó vs sitting MP Ibrahim Omer in race to replace Grant Robertson". The New Zealand Herald.
9. Pearse, Adam (19 March 2023). "Wellington Central electorate: Labour chooses candidate to replace Grant Robertson in hotly-contested seat". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
10. Manson, Bess (27 May 2018). "'Having it all' still a struggle for women in 2018". Stuff. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
11. Erdélyi, Péter (4 May 2020). "20 éves korában megtanult magyarul, ma ő vezeti az új-zélandi kormánypártot" (in Hungarian). 444.hu. Retrieved 20 May 2020.

• Living people
• New Zealand people of Hungarian descent
• University of Auckland alumni
• Victoria University of Wellington alumni
• New Zealand chief executives
• Unsuccessful candidates in the 2014 New Zealand general election
• New Zealand Labour Party politicians
• 21st-century New Zealand women politicians
• 21st-century New Zealand politicians
• New Zealand feminists
• Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
• Harvard Kennedy School alumni
• People from Papakura