Interview with Labours Glen Bennett

Good evening all,

I hope you’re all keeping safe in these uncertain times. Today I’ll be talking about my interview with Glen Bennett. Glen is the MP for New Plymouth and won the electorate by 2,555 against Nationals Jonathan Young. Glen is a new MP in Parliament so he delivered his maiden speech, where he talked about how his parents are Salvation Army officers and he grew up in the Salvation Army.

First I asked Glen what are three things that no one knows about him. He grew up playing brass instruments such as the b flat, euphonium, piano. He went to Ukraine 20 years ago, and it was a real eye-opener to see what real poverty looked like. He also gave old dying flowers wrapped in A4 paper to the Queen, when the Queen was visiting Christchurch in 1990.

Glen's goals in college were not to be seen as he was an awkward student he would ride under the radar. He wanted to pass and learn skills to work with people in the community. Glen said he has always enjoyed politics, he watched it from afar and becoming an MP was never on his radar. He joined the Labour Party 4 years ago because he wanted to be part of influencing and raising his voice, as the Labour Party's values connect with his values. He also wanted to help support Andrew Little when he was running, so he got involved in the campaign.

Glen never saw himself as an MP, he was asked two times and on the third time, he said yes. He believes that the timing was right for him to become an MP. Glen was so happy and overjoyed to become the local MP for New Plymouth, he waited for the last moment to really let it set in. He had been leading the whole night but it never fully sunk in. Then Jonathan Young rang him and conceded, that's when Glen had won his electorate. Overall they had a really nice night.

Glen loves how inclusive the Labour Party is, he also loves how the Labour Party gives everyone an opportunity to become an MP if they want to. Glen's big goal as an MP is to leave the world a better place than how it was when he entered Parliament. The hardest thing about being an MP for Glen is being in New Plymouth and coming down to Wellington a lot.

The MP Glen would love to swap with the Green Party's Jan Logie because she has an amazing insist on women's rights and just thinks she’s really awesome.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog post about the Labour Party's new MP Glen Bennett. I'll be posting a blog post on Friday about Parliament sitting in levels 4 and 3. I hope you all have a lovely night and you are keeping safe!