Priyanca Radhakrishnan

Priyanca Radhakrishnan (born 1979) is a New Zealand politician who has been elected to the New Zealand parliament since the 2017 general election as a representative of the New Zealand Labour Party and was Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector from 2020 to 2023.

Early life and career Radhakrishnan was born in Chennai, India, to Malayali Nair parents. Her great-grandfather, Dr C. R. Krishna Pillai, was associated with left-wing politics in India, and played an instrumental role in the formation of the state of Kerala. She attended Victoria University of Wellington and graduated with a master's degree in development studies.

After graduating, Radhakrishnan worked as a social worker among the Indian community in Auckland. She joined the New Zealand Labour Party in 2006 and has worked on the internal party policy development process and has been active in both local and regional party organisation.

Political career

At the election, Radhakrishnan was ranked number 23 on the Labour Party list, the highest newcomer, but narrowly missed out on election due to a drop in Labour's party vote that year.

First term, 2017–2020 In October 2016, Radhakrishnan was selected as Labour's candidate for the electorate of for the . She was also ranked number 12 on Labour's list, making her the highest-ranked Labour member not already an MP and a significant increase from her ranking three years earlier.

Radhakrishnan did not win the electorate, but entered parliament via the Party list.

Radhakrishnan was mugged in broad daylight in an Auckland street after returning from a visit to Bangladesh.

Following a cabinet reshuffle on 27 June 2019, Radhakrishnan was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary for Ethnic Affairs.

Second term, 2020–2023 During the 2020 New Zealand general election held on 17 October, Radhakrishnan on preliminary results came second to National MP Denise Lee by a margin of 580 votes in the Maungakiekie electorate, but was returned to Parliament on the Labour Party list. The final election results saw Radhakrishnan defeat Lee by 635 votes and become MP for Maungakiekie.

On 2 November 2020, Radhakrishnan was appointed as Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities, Minister for Youth and Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment, making her New Zealand's first Minister of Indian origin.

In a June 2022 reshuffle, Radhakrishnan was promoted to the cabinet as well as appointed as associate Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Third term, 2023–present During the 2023 New Zealand general election on 14 October, Radhakrishnan was unseated in Maungakiekie by National candidate Greg Fleming by a margin of 4,617. However, she was re-elected to Parliament on the Labour Party list.

In late November 2023, Radhakrishnan was appointed as spokesperson for conservation, disability issues, the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS), and the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in the Shadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins.

Following a cabinet reshuffle in mid-March 2026, Radhakrishnan retained the conservation and disability portfolios but lost the NZSIS and GCSB portfolios. She gained the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) portfolio.

In late April 2026, Radhakrishnan's bill was drawn from Parliament's private member's bill balloting system. Her bill has proposed criminalising virginity testing and hymenoplasty in line with the World Health Organization and UN Women's efforts to ban these practices globally. She described virginity testing and hymenoplasty as "invasive, harmful practices" which violated women's human rights.

Honours and awards In January 2021, Radhakrishnan was conferred a Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award for public service, by the Indian president in a virtual ceremony. On 5 December 2023, Radhakrishnan was granted retention of the title The Honourable, in recognition of her term as a member of the Executive Council.