New York and Davos in 2001 and 2002, and was appointed to the Forum's task force on Free Trade. He is generally considered to be on the right of the Labour Party. Boy racers In August 2007 Cosgrove was targeted after raising considerable concerns about boy racers, who have caused numerous and significant problems throughout his electorate and Christchurch in general. Boy racers attempted to intimidate Cosgrove in a number of ways, including defacing billboards and driving past his house on Saturday nights. New Zealand has considerable problems with boy racers, leading to many car seizures and a new law being mooted to crush the vehicles of the worst offenders. Opposition (2008–2017) When Lianne Dalziel confirmed that she would contest the 2013 Christchurch mayoralty, her Christchurch Earthquake Recovery portfolio was split and assigned to Cosgrove and Ruth Dyson in July 2013. He considered standing in the by-election resulting from Dalziel's resignation from Parliament, but in the end decided not to put his name forward for the Labour nomination. He announced he would be retiring from politics at the 2017 general election in April 2016. Post politics After leaving parliament, Cosgrove worked as consultant and lobbyist, including for the ill-fated attempt to mine Foulden Maar for pig food and the Greymouth Hospital construction. References External links Clayton Cosgrove – personal website Clayton Cosgrove at the Labour Party |- 1969 births Living people New Zealand people of Irish descent New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand University of Canterbury alumni Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates People associated with the 2011 Christchurch earthquake New Zealand list MPs 21st-century New Zealand politicians