Marama Fox


Marama Kahu Fox is a former New Zealand politician who was elected to the New Zealand parliament at the 2014 general election as a representative of the Māori Party. Following her election to parliament, she was named Māori Party co-leader alongside Te Ururoa Flavell, replacing party founder Tariana Turia.

Private life and professional career

When Fox was born, the youngest of five children, the family lived in the Porirua suburb of Cannons Creek. Her father, Ernest Richard "Ernie" Smith, was pākehā and a teacher. Her mother, Frances Smith, founded a pre-school. In the early 1970s, the family lived in Christchurch, where Fox attended Elmwood Primary School in Merivale, Heaton Normal Intermediate, and then Christchurch Girls' High School.
Fox lives in Masterton and has nine children. Prior to becoming an MP, she worked as a teacher and had been in education for 26 years. Fox has described herself as being "a badge wearing Mormon".

Political career

At the 2014 election Fox stood in the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti electorate, before being elected via the party list. Fox was the Māori Party's first-ever list MP. Fox was appointed co-leader of the Maori Party, succeeding Tariana Turia. She lost her seat at the 2017 election when the Maori Party failed to win any seats and the opposition Labour Party captured all seven of the Māori electorates. Fox expressed bitterness at her defeat and remarked that New Zealand had voted for a return to the "age of colonisation."

Business activities

In September 2019, it was reported that liquidators of Fox's failed consulting company had engaged agents to track her down, with fears expressed that she had left the country and was in Australia.