Peter Dunne

Who is Peter Dunne?

Peter Francis Dunne is a New Zealand politician, Member of Parliament and leader of the United Future political party. He effectively was an Independent MP between 25 June 2013 and 13 August 2013 after his United Future political party was deregistered. He has been an MP since 1984, representing the centre-left Labour Party in Parliament from 1984 to 1994, and a succession of minor centrist parties from 1994. He served as a Cabinet minister while in the Labour Party and has since done so in governments dominated by the centre-right National Party as well as by the Labour Party.

From 2005 to 2008 he held the posts of Minister of Revenue and Associate Minister of Health as a minister outside of Cabinet with the Labour-led government. After Labour suffered an election defeat in 2008 to the National Party, United Future was reduced to having Peter Dunne as its sole MP. However, in a deal between United Future and National, Dunne retained his two portfolios outside cabinet. On 7 June 2013 he resigned his warrant as a Minister due to unsubstantiated allegations of a leak from his office.