Blair Cameron

Blair Cameron, 35, proudly calls Nelson home and is contesting the Nelson electorate for a second time as National’s candidate after coming within 26 votes of becoming Nelson’s MP in 2023.

Raised in the rural South Island community of Highbank, Blair earned scholarships to study at the United World College of Hong Kong and Brown University in the United States before building his career working at Princeton University and at international financial institutions including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Asian Development Bank. Throughout his career, Blair has worked in more than a dozen countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. He returned to New Zealand in 2020 and continued this work remotely from his home in Nelson.

Although he had never been involved in politics before, Blair ran a strong local campaign in Nelson in 2023 and almost ousted the incumbent MP in the closest election race the Nelson electorate had ever seen. Following the 2023 election, Blair remained in Nelson and returned to consulting for the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Much of Blair’s recent work has focused on India, and he spent several weeks working in India throughout 2024 and 2025. Blair also enjoys teaching, and he has continued to teach online courses and in-person workshops for Stanford University’s Leadership Academy for Development.

Outside work and politics, Blair enjoys social sport, tramping, and learning languages. He speaks both Spanish and Portuguese and is currently learning Te Reo Māori through classes at the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology. On weekends, you can often find Blair tramping in Nelson Tasman’s three National Parks, or at sports games supporting the Nelson Giants, Tasman Mako, and other local teams.

Blair is a dedicated member of the Whakatū Rotary Club and strongly supports many community organisations in Nelson, including Big Brothers Big Sisters and Nelson Tasman Hospice. In 2025, Blair competed in Dancing for a Cause, performing the paso doble with Hazel Black in front of thousands of people at the Trafalgar Centre. As part of his fundraising campaign, Blair publicly committed to shaving his hair off if he raised more than $100,000 for Nelson Tasman Hospice. After the Nelson community rallied behind the cause and donated more than $100,000, Blair followed through on his promise, resulting in a fresh new look for 2026.

“Nelson needs an MP who will get stuck in, get things done, and deliver real outcomes for our community. I’m focused on progressing the Nelson Hospital redevelopment, improving regional infrastructure including the new bypass to ease congestion in Nelson and Richmond, and growing our local economy to create high-paying jobs and new and exciting opportunities for young people to build their future here.”