Introduction
Nancy Nan Lu (simplified Chinese: 陆楠; traditional Chinese: 陸楠; pinyin: Lù Nán; born 1987) is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party.
Personal life
Lu was born in China in 1987. She moved to New Zealand with her parents in 1997. She received her New Zealand education from Avondale Primary School, Pakuranga Intermediate, and Macleans College. She then attended Auckland University, from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in international business and accounting as a double major. Lu graduated with a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School of Government in May 2023. She is married with two daughters.
Career
After university, Lu worked as a chartered accountant for PwC, EY, Fonterra, among others, and was based in New Zealand, Hong Kong and China. She now lives in Auckland, New Zealand. She has been a board member for the Chinese New Settlers Services Trust, an organisation that supports new Chinese immigrants in New Zealand. Lu has been a board member on ContainerCo (NZ) Ltd in New Zealand.
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023–present | 54th | List | 20 | National | |
At the 2020 election she stood for parliament for the National Party and was ranked 26th on the party list. She was the highest-ranking new candidate for National, ranked ahead of 17 sitting National MPs, and was given one of the few list-only slots that National allowed for. Lu was National's only candidate of Chinese ethnicity in 2020; National's previous only Chinese MP, Jian Yang, resigned prior to the 2020 election. National's highest-ranked candidate who entered parliament during the 53rd term was Harete Hipango placed at 21; hence Lu was not elected.
The National Party released its list for the 2023 general election on 19 August 2023. Lu was in 20th place, the highest-ranked candidate not already in parliament. She became the highest ranked National list candidate not elected in the general election held on 14 October 2023. Andrew Bayly had been expected to win the Port Waikato seat, but another candidate for Port Waikato died after advance voting had started, so the electorate votes were not counted and Bayly was elected from the list ahead of Lu. Bayly then won a by-election for Port Waikato held on 25 November 2023 and vacated his list seat, which was taken by Lu.