Iain Lees-Galloway

Iain Francis Lees-Galloway (born 18 September 1978), initially Iain Galloway, is a New Zealand former politician.

He represented the Palmerston North electorate in Parliament for the Labour Party.

He was the Minister for Workplace Relations, Immigration, and ACC.

Lees-Galloway was born on 18 September 1978 in Auckland, where he attended Kings College.

It proposed amendments to the Electoral Act 1993, implementing the recommendations of the Electoral Commission with respect to the party vote threshold.

He moved to Palmerston North to study at Massey University where he was president of the Massey University Students' Association in 2005.

Lees-Galloway joined the Labour Party in 2005 and became chairman of the Palmerston North branch in the following year.

He was selected as successor to retiring MP Steve Maharey, who became Vice Chancellor of Massey University, in a contested Labour Party selection for the.

He defeated the National Party candidate, Malcolm Plimmer, with a majority of 1,117 votes.

Lees-Galloway was confirmed in the with a majority increased from 1,117 in 2008 to 3,285 in the latest election.

In the, Lees-Galloway was challenged by the Mayor of Palmerston North, Jono Naylor, but remained successful.

Lees-Galloway had a majority of 2,212 votes over Naylor.

During his tenure, Lees-Galloway has served as the Labour Party's spokesperson for Veteran's Affairs, Transport and, Land Information and has served associate spokesperson for Health.

Prior to that, he was associate spokesperson on health (drugs and alcohol) and defence.

In September 2010, his Smoke-free Environments (Removing Tobacco Displays) Amendment Bill was drawn from the member's ballot, attempting to ban the display of tobacco products and smoking accessories at points of sale.

The bill's objective was subsequently adopted in a Government bill which came into force 23 July 2012.

He served as junior whip for the Labour Party from 2013 to 2014.

He has had three bills drawn from the member's ballot.

Lees-Galloway's Electoral (Adjustment of Thresholds) Amendment Bill was also drawn from the member's ballot in February 2013.

In October 2013, his Land Transport (Safer Alcohol Limits for Driving) Amendment Bill, was drawn and progressed to First Reading.

This bill would have lowered the allowable blood alcohol content (BAC) from 0.08g to 0.05g per 100mls of blood when driving.

The Government announced their own legislation that would do the same after Lees-Galloway's bill was drawn.

The legislation was passed July 2014.

As his party's spokesperson for Workplace Relations, Lees-Galloway was a leading voice alongside trade unions in the campaign to eliminate zero-hour contracts in New Zealand.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Massey in 2016.

Before entering Parliament Lees-Galloway worked for the New Zealand Nurses Organisation as an organiser and subsequently publicity coordinator.

In 2016, after a year and a half long campaign that involved tens of thousands of New Zealanders, industrial action by union members, parliamentary negotiations, agreements were made with the National government.

Lees-Galloway submitted an amendment to the Employment Standards Legislation Bill that addressed the issue and was approved overwhelmingly.

The bill unanimously passed in parliament on 11 March 2016 and took effect April 2016.

The legislation is thought to be one of the first laws in the developed world to end the use of deals criticised as exploitative.

Lees-Galloway has declared the reforms "a win for working people" of New Zealand.

During the, Lees-Galloway was re-elected in Palmerston North, defeating the National Party's candidate Adrienne Pierce by 6,392 votes.

He was designated as Minister of Immigration by the Labour Party caucus following Labour's formation of a coalition government with New Zealand First and the Greens.

Because Lees-Galloway had both Workplace Relations and Immigration, both areas where Labour and New Zealand First had great differences of opinion, he had a tough job within the coalition.

One minister said that he was “at the front line of the differences between Labour and NZ First”, while a Labour source said, "Every single immigration issue was absolute torture".

Tracey Martin, a NZ First MP, said that her party's relationship with Lees-Galloway was “incredibly fraught". A source from NZ First described Lees-Galloway as "arrogant", and a Labour cabinet minister said that he "was not very good at hiding the dismay on his face.

Even when he was silent, you could see how pissed off he was."

On 20 July 2018, Lees-Galloway in his capacity as Immigration Minister granted visas for the Canadian alt right activists Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux to visit New Zealand for a speaking tour in August 2018.

He was dismissed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern from Cabinet on 22 July 2020 after an affair with a staff member over a period of 12 months.

He did not stand for reelection in the 2020 election.