Name Owen Jennings Role Politician | Party ACT New Zealand | |
Owen Jennings is a former New Zealand politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1996 to 2002, representing the ACT New Zealand party.
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Early years
Before entering politics, Jennings was a farmer.Jennings was active in New Zealand Federated Farmers, becoming its National President in 1990. He served three years. Prior to this he was National Dairy Section Chairman. He was a director of the Karamea Dairy Company, Atas Marketing Meat Ltd and Combined Rural Traders Ltd. He also helped start the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust and was a director for nine years. Jennings was active in PBEC and attended a number of trade talks on behalf of farmers.
Member of Parliament
Jennings was first elected to Parliament in the 1996 election, becoming a list MP. During his first term as an MP, he stood in the Taranaki-King Country by-election where he finished second to National Party candidate Shane Ardern.
Jennings was re-elected on the ACT Party list in 1999; however, he was ranked at 12th on the party list in 2002 and was not returned to parliament. During his time as a parliamentarian, Jennings was widely regarded as being on the rural-centric right wing of ACT.