Dale Stephens has been selected by local party members as National’s Christchurch Central candidate for the 2023 general election.

He will take on current Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb.

 Stephens is currently the Director of Māori Partnership at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise in Christchurch, leading a team focused on growing Māori businesses.

He also serves as the chair of NZ Māori Tourism.

“Having spent my career focused on delivering outcomes, most recently for our local businesses growing their presence on the world stage, I want to use those skills to deliver for Christchurch Central on the issues that matter to them.”

Stephens said “Christchurch Central is full of families working hard to succeed but going backwards because of Labour’s economic mismanagement, which is making everything more expensive and driving up interest rates, forcing people to have to find hundreds of dollars more every week to cover the mortgage.”

He said “Like every New Zealander, people in Christchurch Central want to see actions and follow-through on the issues that matter, which is what I want to offer as part of Chris Luxon’s energised National team. National will be laser-focused on outcomes, not growing the bureaucracy.”

Stephens said “things like the huge increase in emergency department waiting times in Canterbury show the current approach is not working.

Five years ago, when National left office, 93 per cent of emergency department patients in Canterbury were seen within six hours. That figure has now dropped to just 79 per cent.”

Stephens said “I love Christchurch and I’m aspirational for this city. We’ve seen our central city reinvigorated over the past few years and and I know that a National Government will keep backing us to succeed and taking New Zealand forward. My priority now is meeting as many people across Christchurch Central and fighting for the right to represent them on the issues that matter.”