Stuart Nash, who vowed to stay Labour even after sacking, joins NZ First
Monday, 25 May 2026
Stuart Nash is standing for NZ First in Napier.
He previously told Newshub he would not stand for any party, except Labour.
Nash was sacked from Cabinet by Chris Hipkins in 2023.
Winston Peters says Nash could return to Cabinet.
Nash says he “deeply, deeply regret[ted]” his comments about women made last year.
Former Labour Cabinet minister Stuart Nash is returning to politics as a candidate for NZ First in the Napier electorate.
When he was sacked as a minister in 2023, and decided to resign as an MP, Nash vowed never to stand for any party except Labour.
“If I’m not in Labour, then I’m not in politics,” Nash said in an interview with Jenna Lynch in 2023, after he was sacked by then prime minister Chris Hipkins after four separate issues came to light, involving breaches of the Cabinet Manual.
But now, NZ First leader Winston Peters - who is on track to decide the next Government - says Nash could return to Cabinet as an NZ First MP.
Nash told Stuff that NZ First was “the only party” that matched his values.
“I didn’t leave Labour, Labour left me!
“NZ First is now the only party that stands up for good, hard working Kiwi families. This is who I have always fought hard to represent. That hasn’t changed at all,” he said.
Nash, who appeared at an NZ First conference in September last year, confirmed on Monday he was standing for NZ First in his old electorate, Napier.
He held that seat for nine years as a Labour MP, from 2014. Before that, he had served one term in Parliament as a Labour list MP from 2008 to 2011.
But his career in politics came to a sudden end, it appeared, in March 2023. There were four issues that saw him sacked:
As a minister, he lobbied senior immigration officials on behalf of a Hawke’s Bay medical worker, who had been having trouble with Immigration NZ.
He was not police minister at the time, but he called Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to discuss the sentencing of a Southland man who illegally held various guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. He thought the man got off lightly.
While serving as minister for small business, he shared private Cabinet discussions with business figures who had been donors to his campaign.
Twice during radio interviews, he criticised and commented on the judiciary and its sentencing.
During his time in Government, Nash held senior portfolios including police, revenue and fisheries.
After leaving Parliament, Nash found himself in trouble again.
During an interview with The Platform, he was asked to define a “woman”. He replied, “Last time I said something like this, I got in trouble. A woman is a person with a p…. and a pair of t….”
NZ First leader Winston Peters said he believed Nash could return to Cabinet as an NZ First MP.
He said he did not believe Nash ever breached the Cabinet Manual.
“I defended him at the time, I said, ‘this is wrong. This is not a sackable offence’,” Peters said.
During their time in Government together, Peters said it was clear Nash was more aligned to the NZ First way of thinking than the current generation of Labour ministers.
Nash addressed controversial comments he made on The Platform last year when he gave a crude answer after being asked to define a woman. He apologised soon after the interview aired.
The backlash saw him resign from roles with recruitment company Robert Walters and the Taxpayers’ Union board, while he was also removed from a Government trade trip to the United States.