It’s Nicola Willis’ 41st birthday when we talk and she’s surprised when I mention it. She genuinely hasn’t given it much thought, the politician laughs. “I’m not as excited about birthdays as I once was.” She has more pressing things on her mind.
Four months into her role as deputy leader of the National Party, the Wellington-based list MP is in Auckland to support
her boss Christopher Luxon as he delivers his “State of the Nation” speech.
After the party’s recent shenanigans, she says the businessman, 51, has reset the party and won the confidence of the New Zealanders he’s met.
She speaks deliberately and confidently, telling me, “He makes people around him feel they have an immense contribution to make. He takes advice, but he retains his own sense of purpose. He has a sense of humour. We have a laugh.”
Nicola and National leader Chris.
Like Chris, Nicola says she has come to politics out of a sense of service. “I’m an optimist. I’m resolute in my belief we can do better. I have a sense that I had more opportunities than a lot of kids growing up and now I have an obligation to give back. I have a desire to make an impact. Politics is an enormous lever for positive change.”
Hers was a privileged childhood. The eldest of three, she grew up in Wellington’s seaside suburb of Point Howard and went to the local Muritai Primary School in Eastbourne. Her father James Willis, a commercial lawyer, worked at the big-city firm
Bell Gully, while her mother Shona Valentine was a well-known journalist and member of the parliamentary press gallery, a smart, talented woman who gave up her job to raise her family.
Nicola’s childhood was, she recalls, a time of endless opportunity and possibility, much of it spent roaming the bush tracks around her home, something she continues to relish with her own children.
An idyllic childhood (from left): Nicola showing off her board skills; with mother Shona, sister Amanda and brother Jono.
Her parents are both high-energy people, she says. “They have real drive and a sense of fun. They work hard and they play hard. They taught me to always do your best. If you give everything, you’ll have no regrets.”
Nicola’s family is a close bunch. “There were always lots of discussions and debate at dinner. It was never said, but there were expectations that you would come to the table with something to say.” While interested in politics, there were no allegiances to any particular party, she insists.
Her high school years were spent initially at the elite all-girl Samuel Marsden Collegiate. Nicola would commute in the car with her dad, listening to Morning Report on National Radio. The pair would debate the issues, a sign of things to come perhaps.
Dad James, who encouraged a work-hard-play-hard mentality.
Nicola was, even then, a strong character. She decided she wanted to spend her last two years of school boarding at King’s College in Auckland. “I liked the idea of being independent and, frankly, having boys in the class.”
It didn’t go well. “After two weeks, I called Mum in tears and said I wanted to come home. She told me, ‘You’ve made the commitment – get on and make the best of it.'”
Nicola continues, “I was raised a feminist, then suddenly, in that environment, boys were in charge. There were different expectations. I’d never been pretty. I wasn’t cool or the most popular. All of a sudden, I felt judged differently.” Her obvious intelligence wasn’t rated.
So how did she find the male-dominated realms of Parliament? “I’ve found it incredibly meritocratic,” she declares.
Nicola completed a degree in English literature with first-class honours at Victoria University and then wondered how she was going to make a living. She’d always loved writing and decided Canterbury’s post-graduate degree in journalism would give her a practical way of putting her skills to work – a handy ability for any politician, although she says politics was never on her mind as a possible career until she saw an ad for a research job in Sir Bill English’s office.
It was right after he had lost the National leadership. “I was in my early twenties,” she says. “He was an incredible mentor. He told me, ‘I may have lost the confidence of caucus, but I can still make a difference.'” His ideas form the bedrock of much
of National’s social policy.
Nicole’s first bite at politics was joining Bill English’s office as a speech writer and researcher.
Nicola wrote speeches and researched policy. “I worked hard and my contribution was rewarded.” She would go on to serve as a senior policy advisor to Prime Minister Sir John Key, another important influence in her life.
“He taught me that attitude is everything – to bring belief and energy to work to inspire others to be better. That attitude spread to the country. People felt good about New Zealand and where it was going.”
Nicola was living the dream, but in typically courageous fashion, she decided it was time to step outside the Beehive and experience life in the business world. Fonterra had approached her for a senior role in global trade strategy and incident management, and she took the job.
But John wanted her to stay, telling her, “You’re a senior advisor to the Prime Minister. It’s a wonderful role. Why would you leave?” She replied, “Farming is the real energy of the economy. I want to experience that. I’ll work hard and I’ll learn lots.”
Enjoying the ride as John Key’s senior advisor in 2007.
Nicola explains to me, “Parliament and the Beehive is its own world. It’s important to keep a perspective outside the Wellington machine, but I didn’t know a Jersey from a Friesian at that stage!”
A real learning moment came when she was “standing in my gumboots in the mud in Waikato”, explaining government policy to
a farmer. When she’d finished, he replied, “That’s all very well, Nicola, but what does it mean for the milk price and me?”
She returned to the capital to contest the Wellington Central electorate in the 2017 election, where she was soundly beaten by Grant Robertson, but she entered Parliament on the National list when Steven Joyce resigned in 2018.
Her mother Shona was concerned about her daughter’s move into the political fray. Nicola remembers, “She was quick to warn me about the difficult aspects of the job. No matter who you are or how lovely you are, you will never be universally liked. Mum had a protective instinct, but I always loved debate and advocacy, and I went into it with my eyes wide open.”
Anyway, she continues, “Parliament is now more collegial than people think. There’s the theatre of debate the public may see on TV and it can get fiery, but it’s rarely personal. There’s a lot of respect across the House.”
Nicola’s was a meteoric rise through the ranks. She began to appear in the background of leadership pressers. But while Labour was on a roll, the Nats appeared to be coming apart at the seams.
In 2020, Nicola was said to have had a major role in Simon Bridges’ demise, although she is quick to dispute that. She says simply, “I was just one of a caucus of people to vote.” She was, however, a visible supporter of Todd Muller’s and was shocked by his infamous breakdown.
“It was a terrible time for Todd personally. I did a lot of personal examination. Did I do enough to support him? What could I have done differently? But in the end, I just had to knuckle down and do my best work.”
That work was recognised by new leader Judith Collins, who promoted her to the front bench as education spokesperson. But Judith wouldn’t last in the leadership role and, at the end of last November, Nicola became deputy leader to former Air New Zealand CEO Chris.
Nicola and her university sweetheart Duncan Small married 15 years ago. They’d met at Victoria’s debating club. Duncan was captivated by her feistiness, and she by his charisma and handsome good looks.
Marrying Duncan in 2007, with Bill English and wife Mary in attendance.
Duncan has also spent time providing policy advice, working in Treasury and in Parliament in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Now, though, he is a part-time business consultant and full-time carer for the couple’s four children, James, 12, Harriet, 10, Reuben, nine, and six-year-old Gloria. “He drops the kids to school, picks them up and runs them to all the after-school activities.”
As it is for most working families, life is a constant juggle. Nicola is up early reviewing the morning news. She is often called on for interviews by “that Kate Hawkesby”, she laughs wryly, as well as Kate’s husband Mike Hosking at Newstalk ZB.
It’s a team effort: The proud parents with their children (from left) Harriet, Reuben, Gloria and James.
Her first formal meeting at Parliament is at 8am and then the day rolls on, scheduled in 15-minute blocks. How does she do it?
“I’m so fortunate to have two people in my office with huge initiative and loyalty. They block out time for me. They’ll say, ‘Now, Nicola, it’s your time. Go out for a walk.’ I really enjoy the time away – reflection is so important. I often do my best thinking when I step away.”
At 5.30pm, she tries to squeeze in a FaceTime chat with her children. “I try to time it so I don’t interrupt dinner – that just makes it hard for Duncan. It gives the kids a chance to rumble around in their school bags and show me what they’ve been doing, and they can show me that special hut they’ve built on the trampoline. They’ve noticed I’m more high-profile, but generally they just know Mum goes to work and loves her job.”
Mum shows off baby Gloria to the kids.
They do occasionally visit Nicola in her office and walk through the press gallery to get there. “They’re so lovely to our kids,” she says of the journalists, adding that TVNZ’s political editor Jessica Mutch McKay has told them that “when she raises her eyebrows, she’s actually saying a special hello”.
Like many of us, Nicola’s family found the necessary lockdowns challenging. “We have a very deep appreciation of how patient and hard-working teachers are – and we have learnt that TV can always be an educator,” she grins.
She gives credit to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for her life-saving decision to buy us that extra time to deal with the COVID-19 response, however, she reckons the Government was too relaxed on the roll-out of vaccines and rapid antigen tests.
Duncan has recently been away for a week at a school camp as a parent helper. Parliament was sitting the entire time, which meant Nicola routinely wasn’t home until 11pm or midnight. What to do with the non-camping children? Fortunately, Nicola’s parents now live five minutes up the road, so she and the kids moved in with them for the week.
She is devoted to her job and it is Duncan who frequently reins her in, telling her, “You think you need to go to this event, but people will accept it if you take time off.”
The family spends some of those precious moments together at Nicola’s family bach at Riversdale Beach on the Wairarapa Coast.
“The kids are in the Nippers surf lifesaving club,” she says. “It’s a sleepy town where they can ride their bikes to the dairy to buy a dollar mix and a Fruju.” Ah, the quintessential Kiwi summer.
Nicola certainly counts her blessings when it comes to her family life.
“It’s not perfect by any means – there’s Lego all over the floor, there are days we miss things at school and we get things wrong,” she sighs. “It’s messy, but I’m so fortunate my husband believes in shared responsibility, and that I have family support and my team at Parliament.”
Of the recent riots outside her office, she says, “What impacted me most was seeing how vulnerable the people of Wellington felt. Many were scared to leave their homes. I felt a sense of powerlessness.”
However, Nicola is quick to add that she had sympathy for the Prime Minister. The right to protest is enshrined, but she insists, “It doesn’t ever mean that decision- makers should feel unsafe. I was grateful that police were so protective of us in Parliament.
“In a liberal democracy, you expect that people can protest, access different information and hold different views, but there should be no tolerance for people impinging on the rights of others. If you break the law, there will be consequences.”
With John Key having touted her as a future leader of National and indeed the nation, I ask Nicola if the thought of becoming PM has ever crossed her mind, but she says with conviction, “The only thing on my radar in 2023 is to make Chris Luxon our prime minister.”
Now that is the answer of a practised politician.
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