Gloria Julia King
Ni-Vanuatu athlete and politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gloria Julia King is a footballer, businesswoman, and politician in Vanuatu. In 2022, she was elected to the Parliament of Vanuatu, where she served until 2025. She was only the sixth woman in the country to become a member of Parliament.
Gloria Julia King | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Parliament of Vanuatu | |
| In office October 13, 2022 – February 11, 2025 | |
| Constituency | Efate |
| Personal details | |
| Party | Union of Moderate Parties |
Biography
Gloria Julia King is Ni-Vanuatu from the Vanuatuan islet of Mele.[1] She is a former member of the Vanuatu women's national football team and represented Vanuatu at the 2003 South Pacific Games.[2][3][4] She has since served as a football coach and manager, and as the chef de mission for the Vanuatuan delegation at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.[3][4][5] Also a businesswoman, she runs a company selling kava, a popular and ritually important beverage.[6][7]
King first became involved in politics when she joined efforts to establish a village water system in Mele.[2]
In the 2022 Vanuatuan general election, she ran for a seat in the rural Efate constituency as a candidate from the Union of Moderate Parties.[2][3][6][8] Her campaign included a commitment to improve opportunities for women in business.[2][6] She was elected with 1,618 votes, becoming only the sixth woman to become a member of Parliament in Vanuatu, and the first in 14 years.[2][3][6][9]
King served as the only woman in the 52-member Parliament, and she was the first woman to hold the position of third deputy speaker, a position she lost during the 2023 political shakeup.[3][10][11][12][13] In the 2025 Vanuatuan general election, she failed to win re-election.[14]