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Improving access to health services, creating local jobs and ensuring investment reaches communities across Northland is the aim of Labour’s Northland candidate Ashleigh Latimer.
Latimer (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu, Whakatōhea) had 25 years’ experience leading in health and social services, and was a single mother who raised four children.
She admittedshe was a political novice but grew up surrounded by politics, most notably with her grandfather Sir Graham Latimer, a well-known Māori leader and politician remembered for helping raise the status of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Ashleigh Latimer said she also learnt from her grandparents Horo Hēmi “Jim” Pou, who was active in Kaikohe and was the secretary for MP Matiu Rata, and Violet Pou, whose work included leading the Māori Women’s Welfare League.
Latimer grew up in Northland then worked across Auckland and Waikato in health and social services.
She was unable to name the organisations as they were publicly funded but said the work helped her understand the deprivation faced by communities in some of the country’s most stretched areas.
Latimer returned to Northland when her children grew up – now being a proud grandmother – and lived in Whangārei’s Toetoe.
Raised in the Anglican Church and having spent time living in Tonga, Latimer said her values were shaped by service, discipline and community.
She decided to stand for Labour in the Northland seat because she believed her home region could do better, and wanted to see Northlanders feel seen, heard and backed.
Labour's Northland candidate Ashleigh Latimer says she has seen what happens when services don't reach the people most in need.
“Too many Northlanders are being asked to accept less, less access to healthcare, fewer opportunities and growing pressure on families. That’s just not good enough.
“I’ve worked where the pressure is real in our communities. I’ve seen what happens when services don’t reach people, and I’ve spent my career working to change that.”
Latimer’s competition would include incumbent MP, National’s Grant McCallum. She said the first-term MP had “done the best job he could do” but the region would do better under a Labour-led Government.
The three were forming a united front to show what they could do for the Northland region and Te Tai Tokerau, Latimer said.
Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.
