Before turning her hand to politics, Claire Mahon was a human rights lawyer working with the United Nations and Amnesty International.
After returning to Rotorua permanently in 2018, Mahon has been appointed to the boards of Kai Rotorua and Visions for a Helping Hand.
Mahon is also a founder of Evolve Rotorua, an advocacy group launched in 2019 which focuses on "shaping the future of Rotorua".
In this Local Focus video she explains that her connection to Rotora goes deep, and is asked many irrelevant questions including what she would study if she was to go back to university. Her answer is unusual for an aspiring polician.
Also standing in the Rotorua electorate:
• Pete Kirkwood for ACT
• Alan Tāne Solomon for the New Conservatives
• Karri-Ann Vercoe-Black for One party
• Kiri Ward for Advance NZ
Made with funding from
She has outlived her one-year life expectancy and focuses on the positive: 'I am living'