Former National Party MP for Auckland Central Nikki Kaye has died after a lengthy cancer battle, aged 44. The news was shared earlier this morning on RNZ.
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, she revealed in 2017 that “it’s been the most horrific experience it’s also been the most beautiful, in that I think I’m more confident and I am better to myself.”
After her surprise resignation from politics in 2020, she shared that she intentionally went underground to heal, find balance and put her health at the top of her priorities.
“I was a workaholic and a political addict,” she tells. “So I went cold turkey and really did go underground to get away from the political system and public policy, ” she shared with New Zealand Woman’s Weekly in 2022.
After entering politics in 2018 as a Young Nat, and then a National MP at age 28, Nikki was a high performer in Parliament and admitted “I was a workaholic and a political addict.”
Nikki was National’s Deputy Leader when she left politics in 2020 and after 12 years in public service, it was time for some long, hard realisations about what the rest of her life would be like.
“There’s this thing burning in me that loves to help people. There are always people who need help and if you’re someone who cares a lot, like I do, then you can never shut off.”
Tributes are now flowing across social media in dedication to Nikki.
