Kiri Allan


Kiritapu Allan is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party.

Early life

Allan was born in Te Karaka, of Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent. She grew up in Paengaroa. She is part of a family of 10 children.
She dropped out of high school at 16. She worked at a KFC franchise in West Auckland and as a cherry picker.
She studied law and politics at Victoria University of Wellington. During her university studies she worked in an internship with then-Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Career before politics

She worked for a period at law firm ChenPalmer. Later she was a commercial lawyer at and business consultant in Whakatane before she became a politician.

Political career

Allan stood for Labour in the electorate in the and was placed 21 on Labour's party list. Allan did not win the electorate, but entered Parliament via the Party list.
In 2018, Allan launched the political podcast Authorised By with Chlöe Swarbrick.
She is Labour's junior whip, and a member of various Select Committees, including the Epidemic Response Committee.
At the end of 2018, Allan was labelled a strong performer among backbenchers in Parliament.

Personal life

She married her wife, Natalie Coates, in 2016 after marriage equality was legalised in New Zealand.
Her family had a baby at a similar time to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and Allan brought the baby to Parliament.