PHOTO
Former minister Stuart Nash will not contest his Napier seat at the election in October and will instead leave Parliament and politics.
Nash was sacked from Cabinet last Tuesday following the revelation he leaked confidential Cabinet information to two donors.
He made the announcement in a Facebook post on Monday afternoon, saying that after speaking with his family he had “decided to stand down from politics at this year’s election".
“Nearly six years in cabinet, nine years as the Member of Parliament for Napier and 12 years in parliament since 2008, have provided me with the most amazing opportunities to really make a difference to our country and my electorate of Napier. But it’s now time for someone else with passion and drive to step up,” Nash said.
“There are many many highs - and a couple of obvious lows - and I have made a number of life-long friends from both sides of the House as well as up-and-down this wonderful country.
"I have had the privilege of serving in the Ardern Cabinet during the darkest of days, managing crisis after crisis after crisis, while driving forward an ambitious and progressive agenda of continuous economic and social improvement and transformation. While the work has been very rewarding, and both intellectually and professionally stimulating, it has also been incredibly taxing on relationships with family and friends. It’s now time to address this balance,” he said.
Nash said it had been “an absolute privilege and a pleasure representing the people of the Napier electorate in Parliament these last nine years.
“Advocating for the issues that are important to good hard working Kiwis is something that I will miss, but will continue to do for the people of Napier until I depart, as there is still a lot to do regarding the recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle and helping the next Labour candidate retain the seat of Napier,” he said.
Nash had been dogged by scandal in his last days in Parliament and had been pulled up for multiple violations of the Cabinet manual.
Last week, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins asked the Cabinet Secretary to review communications between Stuart Nash and his donors.