Geoff Simmons


Geoff Simmons is an economist and the leader of The Opportunities Party, a political party in New Zealand. He stood for TOP in the February 2017 Mount Albert by-election, and in the Wellington Central electorate in the September 2017 general election.

Early life

Simmons grew up in Okaihau and West Auckland, the son of two teachers. He graduated in economics from the University of Auckland. He worked as an economic analyst for the New Zealand Treasury from 1999 to 2003. He worked as an economic advisor for the UK Home Office in 2003–05 and then for the East Midlands Development Agency in 2005–08. He was the general manager and an economist for the Morgan Foundation in Wellington from 2009 to 2016. He has co-authored four books with Morgan, on health, fishing, Antarctica and food. He is a Lancet Commission on Obesity Fellow.
Simmons has done acting, including improvisational theatre, since he was at secondary school. He has performed with the Improv Bandits, a professional troupe in Auckland, Best on Tap in Wellington, and Stagecraft at the Gryphon Theatre in Wellington. He teaches with the Wellington Improv Troupe.

Politics

In the February 2017 Mount Albert by-election, he stood as a candidate for the Opportunities Party, founded by Gareth Morgan. He came third, with 623 votes, 4.56% of 13,649 valid votes.
On 24 May 2017, Gareth Morgan announced that Simmons was the deputy leader of TOP and their candidate in the Wellington Central electorate in the September 2017 general election.
In December 2017, three months after the election, Morgan resigned as leader and Simmons and two candidates also stepped down from their roles. In August 2018, TOP appointed Simmons as interim leader until an election of party members could be held to determine a replacement to Morgan. In the ensuing internal leadership election, Simmons contested the position with four other candidates. On 8 December 2018, the party board announced Simmons had been successful.