Willow-Jean Prime is a New Zealand Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Northland [25][30].
According to a single reputable secondary source, Prime attended Bay of Islands College [7] before going on to study at the University of Auckland [9], where she is reported to have completed a conjoint Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws [29]. She attended the University of Waikato [10], where, according to a single reputable secondary source, she completed a Post-Graduate Diploma of Māori and Pacific Development with Distinction [28] and an LLM with First Class Honours [27]. She is also reported to have enrolled in a PhD programme [8].
Prior to entering Parliament, Prime worked as a solicitor in Wellington [4] and, according to a single reputable secondary source, ran a consultancy business handling community projects and Treaty claims [2]. She is also reported to have served as a member of management committees of various organisations and local Trusts [6].
Prime stood as the Labour candidate for the Northland seat in 2014, according to a single reputable secondary source [20]. She is reported to have been elected to the Far North District Council in 2013 [14][16] and re-elected in 2016 [17]. She entered Parliament as a Labour List MP on 23 September 2017 [24], according to a single reputable secondary source. She subsequently won the Northland electorate seat, with one source placing her entry to that role from 17 October 2020 [25].
According to a single reputable secondary source, Prime served as Parliamentary Private Secretary for Local Government from 27 June 2019 [26] and as assistant whip of the Labour Party from 2 November 2020 [5]. She has also been reported as having held the role of Education spokesperson for Labour [15]. According to a single reputable secondary source, she was appointed as the 16th Minister of Conservation and the 16th Minister for Youth from 1 February 2023 [11][12], and became a Cabinet Minister from April 2023 [13].