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Stephen Berry (politician)

Stephen Berry (born 14 February 1983) is a perennial candidate in New Zealand national and local politics, running on right-wing positions.

Biography

Berry calls himself a "Manurewa native". He attended St. Annes Primary School. He then attended Manurewa Intermediate and spent year 9 and 10 at James Cook High School, where he played cricket for Weymouth.[2]

He ran as an independent candidate in the 2002 Mount Roskill general election[3] and the 2011 Tāmaki general election.[4] He served as spokesman of minor political party Libertarianz,[5] running for Libertarianz in the 2004 Auckland City mayoral election.[6] He also ran in the 2013 Auckland mayoral election for right-wing group Affordable Auckland,[7] coming third with 13,650 votes.[8][9][10]

He was leader of Affordable Auckland and criticised money spent on a private bathroom and dressing room hidden behind a bookcase being built behind Auckland Mayor Len Brown's new office. He called it "highly inappropriate and a really bad look".[11] He demanded Len Brown's donors be made public, following a $273,375.22 donation from the New Auckland Council Trust.[12] He criticised Auckland Transport for $41,500 spent on a party for 1700 staff and family at The Cloud, including entertainment from The X Factor winner Jackie Thomas. He said Auckland Transport wasn't hearing the clear message at the local body elections on responsible spending of ratepayers' money "when they throw enormous parties like this".[13][14]

With Berry as leader, Affordable Auckland organised a "Stand Down Len Brown" march up Queen Street in February 2014,[15][16] following Len Brown's sex scandal and a report that found he failed to declare more than $39,000 in free hotel rooms and upgrades. He and spokesman Will Ryan said the march was not so much about Mr Brown's private life as his undeclared activities and poor financial management.[17][16] The protest attracted 300 people.[18]

In the 2014 New Zealand general election, he ran for ACT in the Upper Harbour electorate[19] and was 6th on the party list.[20] He said "In 21st century New Zealand politics, homosexuality is so acceptable as to hardly be an issue at all."[21] He also ran in the 2016 Auckland mayoral election. At the first Auckland mayoral debate, he said groups such as Auckland 2040 were "neighbourhood busybodies... artificially inflating the cost of property".[22] He pulled out of the race and endorsed centre-right candidate John Palino.[23]

In the 2017 New Zealand general election, he stood for ACT in the East Coast Bays electorate and was 5th on the party list.[24] He said he would abolish the Rural Urban Boundary and open up space for 600,000 homes to impact the price of housing. He also said he would scrap the Resource Management Act.[25] He served as ACT's 2017 spokesperson for Health and LGBT issues.[26] During the election, he defended hate speech against transgender people as a right.[27] Following these comments, he was booed and laughed at by the audience at an election forum in Wellington, hosted by Rainbow Wellington. He said a colleague had told him it was easier to come out as gay in the ACT Party than it was to come out as an ACT supporter amongst gay friends.[28]

Berry speaking at the Free Speech Coalition protest, Auckland 2018

He spoke at the Free Speech Coalition protest in July 2018,[29] following far-right Canadian activists Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern being denied an Auckland Council venue and unable to secure a venue for their New Zealand tour.[30] He said "Look the thing about free speech is that we’ve all got that in common. We’ve got different reasons for it being in common."[31]

He ran for ACT in the 2018 Northcote by-election,[32] achieving fourth place.[33] Berry's dream for Northcote was a new six-lane motorway over the harbour at Point Chevalier,[34] revived from a 1972 Ministry of Works plan, to fix the Onewa Road congestion. This would be funded by using $58 billion raised by putting up the age to receive superannuation to 67.[35][36] Tackling traffic congestion in Northcote was a priority for Berry in this race.[37][38][39]

In the 2020 New Zealand general election, he contested the Pakuranga electorate for ACT and was ninth on the party list,[40][41] but resigned from running in September 2020, citing "physical exhaustion".[42] He was the only openly gay representative of ACT at the time.[43][44][45][46] He was ninth on the ACT Party list and ACT New Zealand got 10 seats, which means if he had stayed in the race and ACT got the same result, then he would have been elected as Member of Parliament.[45] After resigning as a candidate in the 2020 general election, he has finished with politics and now hosts the Mr Berry Mr Berry show on YouTube,[47] where he shares political commentary and clips from his stand-up comedy routines.[48]

In January 2021, he was permanently suspended from Twitter.[49] This was part of the culling of more than 70,000 "QAnon-related accounts", including President Donald Trump, following the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol. He said he did not approve of what Twitter was doing, but he said Twitter owns the platform and has the right to do as it wishes, even if it's something he disagrees with.[50]

Personal life

Berry is gay and an atheist.[2] He lives in Forrest Hill on Auckland's North Shore with his husband. He is also a manager for a supermarket chain.[51]

Electoral history

2002 Mount Roskill general election

2004 Auckland City mayoral election

2011 Tāmaki general election

2013 Auckland mayoral election

2013 Auckland local elections (Waitemata and Gulf ward)

2014 Upper Harbour general election

2017 East Coast Bays general election

2018 Northcote by-election

The following table shows final by-election results:[59][60]

References

  1. ^ a b "About MrBerryMrBerry". YouTube.
  2. ^ a b "The BFD | Manurewa-Papakura Ward: An Absolutely Biased Guide to Auckland Local Elections". 20 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Election results". electionresults.govt.nz. 2002. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Election results". electionresults.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  5. ^ "ACT – Classically Illiberal Stinkers | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz.
  6. ^ "Hubbard wins Auckland mayoralty". NZ Herald.
  7. ^ "Super City elections 2013: Heated battle for Waitemata and Gulf ward". NZ Herald.
  8. ^ "Auckland Council election final results | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz.
  9. ^ "Local elections 2013: Full Auckland results". NZ Herald.
  10. ^ Ross, Ben (17 October 2013). "Final Election Results for Auckland Council is Out".
  11. ^ "What secrets are concealed in Len Brown's flash new office?". NZ Herald.
  12. ^ "Who Are Len's Donors? | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz.
  13. ^ "$40k Auckand Transport do draws flak". NZ Herald.
  14. ^ "Cash-strapped council body splashes out on party". Otago Daily Times Online News. 12 November 2013.
  15. ^ "Berry Invites Brown to Len Brown Stand Down March | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz.
  16. ^ a b "'Stand down Len Brown' protest march planned". www.voxy.co.nz.
  17. ^ "Battle to fix Len Brown's image". NZ Herald.
  18. ^ "Hundreds march against Len Brown". Otago Daily Times Online News. 22 February 2014.
  19. ^ "ACT announces Party List to contest 2014 election | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz.
  20. ^ "ACT announces Party List to contest 2014 election". www.scoop.co.nz. 13 July 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  21. ^ "Stephen Berry on discrimination | Kiwiblog". 1 September 2014.
  22. ^ "Auckland Council backs down after pressure over "upzoning" plans". Stuff. 17 February 2016.
  23. ^ "Stephen Berry pulls out of Auckland mayoral race". NZ Herald.
  24. ^ "ACT Unveils Party List | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz.
  25. ^ "Parties divided on removal of rural-urban boundary in north Auckland". Stuff. 10 August 2017.
  26. ^ "Pharmac's anti-HIV drug subsidy is an own goal for LGBT". 23 March 2018.
  27. ^ "Act candidate Stephen Berry: Telling transgender they are disgusting is your right". NZ Herald.
  28. ^ "ACT candidate Stephen Berry defending 'hate speech' against transgender people, booed at debate". Stuff. 23 August 2017.
  29. ^ "Auckland free speech rally over controversial speakers draws crowds". RNZ. 14 July 2018.
  30. ^ Asafo, Dylan (28 August 2020). "Where are our hate speech laws?".
  31. ^ Braae, Alex (14 July 2018). "What did the Free Speech protestors actually have to say?".
  32. ^ "'Turnout will be crucial' – National leader Simon Bridges on Northcote vote". NZ Herald.
  33. ^ "Election results". electionresults.govt.nz. 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  34. ^ "ACT's Northcote by-election candidate Stephen Berry wants six-lane motorway through North Shore". Newshub – via www.newshub.co.nz.
  35. ^ Pendergast, Ella (30 May 2018). "ACT's Northcote by-election candidate Stephen Berry wants six-lane motorway through North Shore". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  36. ^ "A six-lane motorway across Auckland harbour". Radio New Zealand. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  37. ^ "Dope advocate, anarchist and anti-vaxxer among Northcote by-election candidates". Stuff. 16 May 2018.
  38. ^ "Simon Wilson's Northcote Notebook: Labour closes gap in Northcote byelection and Act wants six-lane motorway and bridge at Pt Chevalier". NZ Herald.
  39. ^ "Northcote byelection: National's Dan Bidois newest MP". NZ Herald.
  40. ^ "Surprises in Act Party list announced by leader David Seymour". NZ Herald.
  41. ^ "Election 2020 – Political Party Lists". interest.co.nz. 11 March 2020.
  42. ^ "ACT candidate Stephen Berry resigns due to 'exhaustion' from campaign preparation". Newshub – via www.newshub.co.nz.
  43. ^ "New Zealand's new LGBTQ MPs make Parliament most rainbow in world". RNZ. 20 October 2020.
  44. ^ "NZ Parliament most rainbow in world". Otago Daily Times Online News. 20 October 2020.
  45. ^ a b "Election results". electionresults.govt.nz. 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  46. ^ Richens, Tony (14 October 2020). "New Zealand Election: LGBT+ Policy Agenda, What the Parties Say". Gay Nation.
  47. ^ "Stephen Berry". 7 June 2024.
  48. ^ "MrBerryMrBerry – YouTube". www.youtube.com.
  49. ^ "NZ far-right Twitter accounts suspended". Newsroom. 13 January 2021.
  50. ^ "Twitter crackdown reaches NZ: Hundreds of NZ right-wing users kicked off Twitter". NZ Herald.
  51. ^ "ACT names 'maverick' Stephen Berry as Northcote byelection candidate". NZ Herald.
  52. ^ "Hubbard wins Auckland mayoralty". The New Zealand Herald. 10 October 2004. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  53. ^ Official Count Results – Tāmaki, 2011
  54. ^ "2013 election results" (PDF). Auckland Council. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  55. ^ "Voting Document Returns – 2013 Elections" (PDF). Auckland Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  56. ^ "Official Count Results – Upper Harbour". Electoral Commission. 4 October 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  57. ^ "2014 General Election Voter Turnout Statistics – Upper Harbour". Electoral Commission. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  58. ^ "Official Count Results – East Coast Bays (2017)". Electoral Commission. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  59. ^ "Northcote - Official Result". electionresults.govt.nz. 20 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  60. ^ "Northcote by-election official results". Electoral Commission. 20 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.

External links

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