Government

How to become an elected government representative

Official title: Elected government representative

Also called: Member of Parliament (MP), Government minister, Councillor, Community board member, Mayor

Elected government representatives develop, introduce or make laws and policies at local, regional and national levels.

Main tasks

Represent people in policies and decisions
Study reports and proposals
Present and vote on new laws
Attend meetings and public events
Work with officials on policies
Oversee changes in rules or laws
Respond to complaints and public petitions
Approve spending for public projects

How to become one

You usually need experience to become an elected government representative and a qualification may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Required: to be at least 18 years old; to be enrolled on the parliamentary electoral roll; to be elected. Other requirements: a relevant tertiary qualification in political science and policy studies, law studies, human society or similar area; experience in similar work.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

University: Arts & Humanities degrees, Offered by 6 universities in New Zealand
University: Law & Justice degrees, Offered by 5 universities in New Zealand

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Most common pay: $64,000 to $125,000 a year (median $86,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
Upper: $180,000 a year
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
People employed in the group Legislators: 1,065 at the 2018 Census and 1,365 at the 2023 Census (+28.2%). Past change, not a forecast.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

About 1,200 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Legislators, 42% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Legislators work (2023 Census): Auckland 20.6%, Canterbury 14.7%, and Wellington 12.7%.

Questions people ask

How do I become an elected government representative?

How much does an elected government representative earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $86,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $64,000 to $125,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as an elected government representative grown in New Zealand?

It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of an elected government representative?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026