Ruth Dyson

Ruth Suzanne Dyson (born 11 August 1957) is a New Zealand politician. She is a member of the Labour Party.

Dyson was born in Lower Hutt. Her father served in the New Zealand Army, and so Dyson's family frequently moved around the country. Dyson joined the Labour Party in Westport in 1979, and worked as a campaign organiser for Labour MP Kerry Burke in the 1981 and 1984 elections. In 1985, she moved to Wellington, where she worked with Labour MP Fran Wilde on the Homosexual Law Reform Bill. She worked for Wilde's re-election campaign in the 1987 elections, and later held a number of senior offices in the Labour Party, including that of president.

Dyson first entered Parliament herself in the 1993 elections, winning the seat of Lyttelton. In the 1996 elections, the Lyttelton seat was abolished, and Dyson became a list MP. In the 1999 elections, however, she contested the Banks Peninsula seat, and won. She had remained MP for Banks Peninsula since that time.

When the Labour Party won power in the 1999 election, Dyson was appointed to a number of minor ministerial roles, but resigned them on 31 October 2000 after being caught drunk driving. She regained most of her ministerial responsibilities on 5 June 2001.

She is currently Minister for Social Development and Employment, Minister for Senior Citizens, Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector and Minister for Disability Issues [cite press release|publisher=New Zealand Government|date=31 October 2007|title=Ministerial List for Announcement on 31 October 2007|url=http://www.beehive.govt.nz/Documents/Files/Ministerial%20List.DOC|format=DOC] .

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