Blair Cameron

Blair Cameron is a New Zealand researcher and politician. Shown as the winner of the electorate at the  based on preliminary results, the final results gave the incumbent a narrow lead of 26 votes.

Early life and career
Cameron grew up in rural Canterbury outside Methven, where his mother was a schoolteacher and his father was a barman at the working men's club. Cameron was schooled in Highbank, and at Mount Hutt College. At the age of sixteen, he was awarded a scholarship to study at Li Po Chun United World College. He gained a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Brown University in the United States before working as a senior research specialist at Princeton University. Cameron has worked as a research officer for the International Monetary Fund’s legal department and as a consultant for the World Bank. His work for the World Bank involved researching how governments could be made less corrupt. He returned to New Zealand in 2020 for a friend's wedding, and decided to stay. His mother had moved to Nelson and so he settled there.

Political career
Cameron was selected by the National Party to contest the electorate at the. He was 35th on the party list. Preliminary results showed him beating incumbent Labour Party MP Rachel Boyack by 54 votes. He identified Nelson infrastructure and health services as areas he would prioritise. He is concerned about the state of Nelson hospital, which he says "might fall down if we have a decent sized earthquake". Cameron and the National Party health spokesperson Shane Reti have said rebuilding Nelson hospital is a top priority, although Boyack alleges National Party leader Christopher Luxon has not committed to it.

Following the release of final results on 3 November, Cameron's election night victory was overturned, with Boyack winning by a narrow margin of 29 votes. In response, the National Party sought a judicial recount in the Nelson electorate on 8 November. On 10 November, the Electoral Commission confirmed that Boyack had won Nelson by a margin of 26 votes, three votes fewer than the final vote results.

Personal life
Cameron enjoys kayaking, tramping, rugby and racing.