National Party Board candidates

This weekend National will elect up to four people onto its governing board. There are 10 candidates standing, which is a good sign so many want to contribute.

I’m not a delegate and won’t be saying who I think people should vote for. Delegates should decide on their skills, backgrounds, reputations and platforms. But I will profile briefly the candidates here.

Grant McCallum

Grant is a farmer and longtime activist for National in Northland. Very well known in the party and was previously on the Board (but isn’t at the moment). He has deep rural connections but also strong business connections (went to Kings College).

Lliam Munro

Lliam has been a member for almost 15 years and held several regional and electorate roles. His professional background is with risk management, strategy and leadership. He has worked for the GCSB, Ministry of Justice, Fire Service and MBIE.

He wants a culture change in the party and less interference in electorate decision making.

Aryana Nafissi

Aryana is the Chair of the Northern Young Nationals, managed their 2020 campaign and is a tax consultant at a major accountancy firm having graduated with a LLB and BCom.

She wishes to champion organisational excellence and have an unrelenting focus on KPIs to ensure National is positioned to win in 2023. She thinks National needs to have competent, disciplined governance and not get distracted by internal static.

Jannita Pilisi

Jannita is a director of Pacific Poppies Consulting and has a BA and LLB from Auckland University.

Felicity Price

Felicity is an experienced director and chair who is a Fellow of the Institutes of Directors. She is on the Regional Leadership Team in Canterbury-Westland. Her background is PR and Comms and crisis management – useful skills for a political party.

She wants to strengthen candidate vetting, include electorates more in decision making and fix the black hole of policy remits.

David Ryan

David has been a member for over 30 years (He and I were in Young Nats together). He has an MBA from the UK and retired early after a successful business career and has a number of governance roles.

He wants the party to get better at campaigning, have better information sharing between electorates and make National a more attractive proposition for candidates and voters.

John Sunckell

John is a dairy farmer in Canterbury. He is a current member of ECan and has a governance role with St John. Has been active with National for over a decade and is a former campaign chair for Amy Adams.

He is standing for decisive decision making, more due diligence for selections, more diversity and more discretion.

Stefan Sunde

Stefan is a former Chair of the Young Nationals and an incumbent director. His professional background is in international tax.

He wants the board to set a positive tone, cohesive strategy and focused agenda.

Sylvia Wood

Sylvia has been involved in National since 2014 and has held numerous riles including electorate chair and campaign chair. She has an HR business and says she is good at vetting candidates. She is a member of the Institute of Directors,

Her focus is regaining the 500,000 voters National lost and making it easier for busy people to get involved in National.