Maureen Pugh


Maureen Helena Pugh is a New Zealand politician who is a Member of Parliament for the National Party. She has previously served as the mayor of the Westland District.

Political career

Westland District Council

Pugh was elected to the Westland District Council in 1998 and served two terms before being elected as the district's first woman mayor in 2004, succeeding John Drylie. In 2007 she was returned as mayor unopposed. She stood down at the 2013 elections and was succeeded as mayor by Michael Havill.
While serving as mayor of Westland District Council, Pugh was accused of failure to declare a financial conflict of interest.

Member of Parliament

At the she contested the West Coast-Tasman electorate for the New Zealand National Party. She was ranked number 52 on the National Party list, just missing out on a seat. Based on preliminary results, she would have entered Parliament, but in the final results, National's party vote was lower and the seat she would have taken was won by the Green Party. Pugh was first in line should there be a vacancy in a list seat held by a National Party MP during the 51st New Zealand Parliament, and following Tim Groser's resignation in December 2015, she was sworn in as a member of parliament on 9 February 2016 after the summer recess.
In the 2017 general election, Pugh had a higher list rank in the National Party, and results on election night suggested National had won enough seats for Pugh to return to parliament. However, the official count including special votes showed National had won two fewer seats than the preliminary count indicated, meaning that Pugh was not returned to Parliament.
In February 2018 Pugh and several other "next in line" list candidates attended National's parliamentary caucus meeting to help ease their transition into parliament should they enter during the course of the parliamentary term. Following Bill English's resignation from Parliament in March 2018, Pugh was declared elected as a list MP for the National Party.
National Party leader Simon Bridges described Pugh as "fucking useless" in a phone call with Jami-Lee Ross that Ross released on Facebook. When the recording was released, Bridges apologised to Pugh. Pugh later voted against Bridges in the May 2020 leadership election.

Personal life

Pugh and her husband John live on their farm at Turiwhate, near Kumara. She does not believe in pharmaceutical drugs, preferring chiropractic treatment.
In the 2014 New Year Honours, Pugh was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to local government.