Matt King (politician)
Matt King | |
|---|---|
| 1st Leader of DemocracyNZ | |
| In office April 2022 – February 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Party established |
| Succeeded by | Party dissolved |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Northland | |
| In office 23 September 2017 – 17 October 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Winston Peters |
| Succeeded by | Willow-Jean Prime |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ronald Matthew King 1967 (age 57–58) |
| Political party | DemocracyNZ (2022–2024) National (until 2022) |
Ronald Matthew King (born 1967) is a New Zealand politician who was a Member of Parliament for the National Party from 2017 to 2020. During his time as an opposition MP, King's roles included membership of the Justice, Māori Affairs, and Transport and Infrastructure Select Committees, and National's spokesperson for Regional Development (North Island), Rural Communities, and Transport. While in parliament he promoted a bill to create a new offense for "king hits" but it was defeated.
King has posted claims about COVID-19 vaccinations being dangerous, and says he does not believe that vaccinations have actually occurred in the numbers recorded. He has downplayed the severity of COVID-19 and discussed alternative and widely debunked treatments for it. In February 2022, King attended the 2022 Wellington occupation of parliament, after which he resigned from the National Party. In March 2022 King launched a new political party called DemocracyNZ, which won 0.23% of the party vote in the 2023 General Election. The party was deregistered in February 2024 at its own request.