Photography: Eva Bradley.
Just a few weeks after Napier MP Katie Nimon found herself at the centre of a political storm over working mums, she’s laughing about the fact New Zealand First candidate Stuart Nash described her as “lazy” and incorrectly stated she’d taken 10 months of maternity leave after the birth of her first child, her beautiful boy Lochie.
The remarks were condemned across the political spectrum as sexist and outdated, before ultimately leading to Stuart’s resignation, but Katie’s first reaction wasn’t outrage.
“I had to laugh because it was completely untrue,” she tells Woman’s Day.
“It struck a nerve around the country and rightly so, but honestly, somehow I feel more seen and supported as a working mum since ‘Lazy-gate’. Can we call it that?! “The problem, though, is that so many women do doubt themselves after they have a baby. Working mums are doing two jobs, but somehow feel like they’re doing neither well enough.”
How motherhood changed Katie’s life
Born and raised in Hawke’s Bay, Katie, 35, believes staying true to herself and not trying to hide the fact she’s now a mum has been critical to making a success out of her two big roles.
“I didn’t stop being me for him – he just became a part of my life,” she explains.
Since marrying Jeremy Lawson in 2022, Katie has pivoted from running her family business and working for council, to becoming a Member of Parliament and new mum, all while working hard to remain the same Katie she was before.
Katie on life as an MP and mum
Today, in the family’s small but stylish home in Napier’s suburban Art Deco heart, while Katie poses for photographs, Jeremy is patiently coaxing 14-month-old Lochie into a pair of pants he simply doesn’t want a bar of. Around them, members of Katie’s team drift in and out carrying work phones, muffins and toddlers of their own. It’s hard to tell where family ends and politics begins.
But despite winning Napier for the National Party in 2023 after nine years under Labour, Katie describes herself as “a bit of a phoney politician”, insisting, “I feel more like an elected representative.”
And she’s a low-maintenance one at that. It’s been 18 months since Katie had a haircut as Parliament and parenting take priority. The irony isn’t lost on her that before recent headlines, she often spoke to other mums about the pressure to juggle careers and family.
“Women can do anything, but they don’t have to,” she says.
It’s a lesson Katie confesses she’s still learning herself.
“Anyone who makes it look really easy is probably hiding the thing they’re struggling with.”
From farming to family life
Jeremy, 36, is the first to admit he’s in awe of what his wife manages to fit into a week.
“She’s got real stamina,” he says.
“Not only is it a busy job in the public eye, but there’s all the travel as well. Sometimes she’s only home for a few hours before she’s back on the road again.”
The former deer farmer and agricultural sales manager recently left corporate life to launch his own tourism business and give the family more flexibility. Watching Jeremy become a dad has been one of Katie’s greatest joys.
“I love seeing Jeremy see himself in Lochie,” she says.
“Lochie’s such a little Energizer Bunny and always wants to get into everything, which is exactly how I see Jeremy.”
Katie’s journey as a working mum
For Katie, one of the greatest surprises of motherhood has been how naturally Lochie has become part of her life. He was born on May’s Budget Day last year and Katie took 10 weeks off before returning to her electorate role. Then from six months, she regularly took him to Wellington with her mum as support, enabling her to breastfeed until he was 10 months old.
Lochie was there when the first sod was turned on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway project she had fought to secure and attended the opening of the region’s new radiology department.
“We didn’t have the baby and then stop everything,” she says.
“We had the baby and did it with the baby.”
While there’s the obvious comparison to Dame Jacinda Ardern, Katie says it was her fellow National MP and working mum Nicola Grigg whom she related to most.
“Women have been having babies in Parliament for decades,” she says.
“Jacinda was very public because she was prime minister. Nicola felt like a much nearer example for me because she was commuting from the provinces and balancing many of the same things.”
The future Katie wants for Lochie
With our health and education sectors in turmoil, and large numbers of Kiwis moving overseas, Katie wants Lochie to grow up in an Aotearoa that feels safe, to go to a world-class school and to have opportunities that mean he doesn’t have to leave New Zealand to succeed.
She says, “I want people to say, ‘I’m moving to Hawke’s Bay for that job.’”
Speaking candidly about the criticism that women in politics attract, Katie confesses that comments on social media affect her so deeply, she has had to delete Facebook from her phone.
“There are times when it can derail you for days,” she admits.
Since the Government changed tax and tenancy laws to favour landlords, Katie and Jeremy have added three new rental properties to their property portfolio, bringing their total to five, but the MP rejects suggestions of any conflict of interest.
“There needs to be rental housing and there needs to be good landlords,” she insists.
The role Katie loves most
Whether Lochie will get a sibling is a question Katie has thought about carefully and she weighs the arguments both ways before finally putting a stake in the ground, saying, “As long as I’m doing this job, we couldn’t have a second child. I know how hard it’s been with Lochie.”
But while some days are chaotic and some so busy that she forgets to eat lunch, being a mum is still the job Katie loves most.
She recalls a recent daycare pick-up, where a child pointed her out and announced excitedly, “Look, it’s Lochie’s mum.”
Smiling, the politician tells us, “I can be Katie Nimon MP and also be Lochie’s mum. Those two things can be the same.”
