Tom Rutherford

Tom Rutherford is a communications executive and New Zealand politician, representing the New Zealand National Party as a Member of Parliament for the Bay of Plenty Electorate since the 2023 New Zealand general election.

Early life
Rutherford (born 1997 (age 26)) was brought up in the Bay of Plenty. Rutherford's mother Sharon Nightingale is the National Party event manager in the Bay of Plenty. Before entering politics, Rutherford was a communications executive, and had worked for mayor and former National Party candidate Tania Tapsell at Rotorua Lakes Council. Rutherford is also a Hockey New Zealand umpire, having officiated in 14 nationally tracked tournaments since 2017. Rutherford is also a volunteer firefighter, a rugby referee and captained the Greerton Cricket Club.

Political career
Rutherford was shortlisted for the National Party candidacy in the 2022 Tauranga by-election, held after the resignation of Simon Bridges, but lost out to Sam Uffindell.

Rutherford was selected by the National Party to contest the electorate at the. He was 70th on the party list. Rutherford was the youngest National Party candidate in 2023, but said he was mentored by Tony Ryall, who was also 26 when he was elected to represent Bay of Plenty. On election night, Rutherford received 23,303 votes, comfortably beating the Labour Party's Pare Taikato on 7,898.

Views and positions
Rutherford has said the biggest issues to be dealt with by government are "cost of living, transport and crime". He is keen to help improve transport and infrastructure to reduce congestion in Bay of Plenty. Rutherford also says that police should be given more powers. Rutherford also said he is keen to see democracy returned to Tauranga City Council (the council has been run by four commissioners since early 2021), and would work with the MP for Tauranga, Sam Uffindell, to ensure that happened.