Kelvin Davis (politician)

Kelvin Glen Davis is a New Zealand politician and a member of the House of Representatives. He is a member of the Labour Party.

Davis was born in and grew up in the Bay of Islands. He received his secondary education at the Bay of Islands College from 1980 to 1984. He obtained a Diploma of Teaching from Auckland College of Education (1985–1987) and taught at Koru School in Mangere (1988–1990), Bay of Islands Intermediate School in Kawakawa (1991–1993), before becoming principal of Karetu School (1994–1998). He then held employment with the Education Advisory Service (1998–1999) and the education improvement and development project Te Putahitanga Matauranga (2000). He was then principal of Kaitaia Intermediate School from 2001 to 2007.

In the 2008 general election Davis stood for Labour in the Te Tai Tokerau seat. He was defeated by the incumbent Hone Harawira of the Mana Party, but was still elected into the 49th New Zealand Parliament by way of the party list.

He was Labour's candidate in the 2011 Te Tai Tokerau by-election and was again defeated by Harawira. He unsuccessfully contested the seat at the general election later in the year. After placing second to Harawira three times and losing his seat at the 2011 election, Davis announced his retirement from politics.

Davis was selected as Labour's candidate for Te Tai Tokerau in the 2014 election. Due to Shane Jones' resignation from Parliament at the end of May 2014, Davis was eligible to take his place as he was the highest ranking non-MP in Labour's 2011 party list. He was declared elected to parliament on 23 May 2014.

The Mana Party formed a coalition with the Internet Party just prior to the 2014 general election. The coalition was registered with the Electoral Commission as the Internet Party and Mana Movement in July 2014, allowing it to contest the party vote. The Internet Party was founded by controversial online millionaire Kim Dotcom, and this strategic coalition resulted in Davis getting endorsements from Winston Peters of New Zealand First and the Prime Minister, John Key of the National Party. Even the electorate's candidate for the Māori Party, Te Hira Paenga, reminded voters of the importance of strategic voting. In his fourth challenge in the Te Tai Tokerau electorate, Davis ousted the incumbent Harawira, which ended the representation of the Mana Party in Parliament.