Craig Renney

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Craig Renney (born 1979) is a New Zealand economist and Labour Party politician. He is the Labour candidate for Wellington Bays in the 2026 general election.

Early life and education
Renney was born in Cramlington, Northumberland, England. His father was a coal miner and his mother worked at the post office. Mine closures in the area inspired his interest in economics. He studied politics and economics at the University of Stirling and earned two master's degrees: one in urban policy and economic regeneration from Northumbria University and another in public administration from a university in Prague.

Move to New Zealand
He moved to Wellington, New Zealand, in 2012, saying the Cameron–Clegg austerity measures in the UK pushed him to go.

Career in the UK and New Zealand
In the UK, Renney worked as an economic policy advisor for the North East Assembly and for the Audit Commission. After moving to New Zealand, he worked as a public servant at the Treasury, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), and the Reserve Bank.

In 2015 he became a researcher for Labour Party finance spokesperson Grant Robertson, helping prepare budget projections for that year’s general election. When Labour formed a coalition government with New Zealand First and Robertson became Minister of Finance, Renney was appointed senior economic advisor to Robertson. He helped prepare the Budget in 2018, 2019 and 2020, the COVID-19 response, and Labour policy for the 2020 election. He left that role after the 2020 election and became policy director and economist for the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU) in 2020.

Recent events
In 2024 Renney was barred from a Treasury lock-up for a restricted briefing, with Treasury saying he did not meet attendance criteria. The decision to block him and other groups from the 2025 Budget lock-up was later reversed after feedback.

After Labour lost the 2023 general election, Renney was elected to Labour’s policy council and campaigned on changing tax policy. In 2025 the party announced it would campaign on a capital gains tax.

In November 2025 Renney was chosen as the Labour candidate for the Wellington Bays electorate. His campaign priorities are housing, health, jobs and the cost of living. He supports a social insurance scheme, renationalising large energy generator-retailer companies (gentailers), and banning the import of petrol cars.

There was talk he might become Labour’s finance spokesperson because of his economic experience, but party leader Chris Hipkins ruled it out.

Publication
Renney’s book, The Good Economy, was published in December 2025 by Bridget Williams Books. It lays out a left-wing economic agenda, including new taxes on electricity generators and high-profit supermarkets to fund more government investment in infrastructure and social housing. The cover asks: “What does a good economy look like and how do we build it?”