Gaurav Sharma (politician)

Gaurav Sharma (born 1987) is a New Zealand doctor and politician. He has a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree from the University of Auckland and a Master of Business Administration from George Washington University. He was a candidate for Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party in 2017 from Hamilton West.

Gaurav Sharma

MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Hamilton West
Assumed office
17 October 2020
Preceded byTim Macindoe
Personal details
Born1987 (age 33–34)
Himachal Pradesh, India
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Auckland
George Washington University
ProfessionDoctor

Early life and schooling

Sharma was born in Himachal Pradesh, India, and his family moved to New Zealand when he was young.[1] Sharma went to Auckland Grammar School where he was the Proxime Accessit (runner-up Dux) in his final year of high school. In 2005, The New Zealand Herald newspaper named him as one of the top six students in the country as per Sir John Graham's NZ Education and Scholarship Trust.[2]

Medical career

Volunteering to work as a caregiver in a rest home inspired Sharma to pursue a career in medicine.[3] Sharma qualified as a medical doctor from University of Auckland's School of Medicine where he was also involved with the New Zealand Medical Students' Association.[4][5]

Fulbright and MBA

Sharma practiced clinical medicine in New Zealand before receiving the Fulbright Scholarship for further studies in the United States.[5][6] Whilst studying business, politics and public health during his Fulbright funded MBA at George Washington University in Washington DC, Sharma was involved on campus in Hillary Clinton's campaign for the United States Presidency in 2016.[4] He was also a Senator on the George Washington University's Student Senate during his time there as a student.[7]

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2020–present 53rd Hamilton West 63 Labour

Sharma has been involved with the New Zealand Labour Party for a long time and worked with Phil Goff during his campaign for parliament in 2014.[3] Upon returning from the United States after his MBA, Sharma stood for the Labour Party in the Hamilton West electorate in the 2017 election and was placed 70 on Labour's party list.[8][9] He was not successful in winning the seat against the incumbent but increased the Party Vote share from 25.57% to 36.61% (an increase of 11.04%) compared to the 2014 Labour Party candidate.[10]

In the 2020 election Sharma again stood for the Hamilton West electorate, beating the incumbent National candidate Tim Macindoe by 6,267 votes.[11][12]

References
  1. "The young and the restless". Indian Weekender. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  2. "Six of the best surface in trust's scholarship testing". The New Zealand Herald. 25 March 2005. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  3. "Labour candidate looking to make a difference". The New Zealand Herald. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  4. Lines-Macenzie, Jo (11 July 2017). "New face ready to swing Hamilton West". Stuff. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  5. "University of Auckland welcomes 16 new Fulbright award recipients". University of Auckland. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  6. "Fulbright 2015 Grantees" (PDF). Fulbright Commission New Zealand. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  7. "GWSB Alumnus Stands for NZ Parliament". George Washington University School of Business. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  8. "Labour choose candidate for Hamilton West seat". Stuff. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  9. "Revised Labour Party List for the 2017 Election". Scoop.co.nz. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  10. "Official Count Results -- Hamilton West (2017)". Electoral Commission. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  11. "Hamilton West - Official result". New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  12. Herald, N. Z. "Election 2020: The 40 diverse new MPs entering Parliament". ZB. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by
Tim Macindoe		 Member of Parliament for Hamilton West
2020–present		 Incumbent
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