Bio
Hon Clayton Cosgrove is a former Member of the New Zealand Parliament and Cabinet Minister, having served as an elected representative from 1999 – 2017 when he stood down from Parliament at the 2017 General Election.
He held a number of senior ministerial positions in the Fifth Labour Government. These included Minister of: Building and Construction, Associate Finance, Immigration, Small Business, Sport and Recreation, Rugby World Cup, Associate Justice and Statistics. He was also Co-Chair of the New Zealand/United States Parliamentary Group.
Prior to entering Parliament, Clayton held senior corporate and public affairs executive roles in New Zealand and internationally in the telecommunications and minerals industries.
Following his retirement from Parliament, Clayton is now the Director of Cosgrove & Partners Ltd, a professional services company that provides consultancy services to chief executives, boards and chairs of major corporate entities in New Zealand and internationally. Cosgrove and Partners Ltd professional services include: Government relations/regulatory advocacy, strategic communication & public affairs management, executive media training, litigation support, reputation and brand management, asset protection, risk/issues & crisis management, and investor/media/stakeholder relations management.
He has extensive international networks across the political spectrum and within the business, sport, media and public sectors particularly in New Zealand the United States and Australia. Those contacts and personal relationships forged over decades and his first-hand experience in the political machine, ensure his clients are well-placed to successfully navigate their challenges and opportunities.
Clayton is a former board member of the Christchurch Stadium Trust and a former member of the Christchurch Multipurpose Arena Reference Group. He represents the New Zealand Minister of Sport (Hon Grant Robertson), as his Official Deputy to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and as such is a member of WADA’s Executive Committee and Foundation Board. Formerly Clayton was Chair of the West Coast Partnership Board which was tasked with the construction of Greymouth and Buller Hospitals – projects totalling $130 million.
Clayton has completed executive leadership programmes at Harvard and Yale Universities and holds MBA and BA (triple major) degrees from Canterbury University. He has been recognised by the World Economic Forum on two occasions as a Global Leader of Tomorrow and a Young Global Leader. He is a Member of the Institute of Directors of New Zealand and a Fellow of the Institute of Managers & Leaders.
