Foss disappointed at demotion

Craig Foss, National Party MP for Tukituki, was dropped from the Cabinet.

Tukituki MP Craig Foss says he was surprised and disappointed to be dropped from the Cabinet but does not believe the demotion reflected his election performance.

The former Broadcasting, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister was the biggest loser in Prime Minister John Key's Cabinet reshuffle, announced yesterday. He fell four places in the ministerial rankings - from previously being in 17th spot to 21st, making him the highest ranking minister outside the 20-member Cabinet.

His new roles are the Small Business, Statistics and Veterans' Affairs portfolios, along with being Associate Minister for Immigration and Transport.

"I am disappointed and surprised but at the end of the day it's the boss' [Mr Key's] call and I respect that," Mr Foss said.

"I'm still a minister and part of the team, so I'll just keep going as I always do." Mr Foss' majority over Labour candidate Anna Lorck in last month's election race was 6490, down from the 9660 margin he achieved in 2011.

But he said he did not believe the result was a factor in Mr Key's thinking, because some returning Cabinet ministers had much smaller majorities, and he and his electorate campaign team had done well against the party and electorate vote targets they had set themselves.

Ms Lorck received 2329 more votes than 2011 Labour candidate Julia Haydon-Carr, while votes for Mr Foss fell by 841.

However, the number of party votes National received in the electorate increased from 17,935 in 2011 to 18,680.

Mr Foss' assessment appeared to be backed by Mr Key, who told a press conference yesterday following the reshuffle announcement that Mr Foss' demotion did not reflect any poor performance on his part, but was simply about changing the "starting line-up".

Mr Foss said he expected to be kept busy in his new Veterans' Affairs role with next year's commemorations of the centenary of the Anzac landings at Gallipoli.

"I know the RSA boys will be very happy," he said.

"I was talking to them the other day and they said, 'Look, in the reshuffle, if you become Veterans' Affairs Minister that would be fantastic'. Lo and behold, two weeks later I am."

Labour's newly-elected Napier MP, Stuart Nash, said he was sorry to see Mr Foss dropped from cabinet.

"I'm sad that Mr Foss's hard work hasn't been recognised. I hope we can form a cross-party team to advocate for the issues that are important to the people of Hawke's Bay."

Roles

Previous

• Cabinet minister (ranked 17th)
• Minister of Broadcasting,
• Minister of Commerce,
• Minister of Consumer Affairs
• Associate Minister of ACC (Acting ACC Minister from September following the resignation of Judith Collins)

New

• Minister outside Cabinet (ranked 21st)
• Minister of Small Business, Minister of Statistics, Minister of Veterans' Affair
• Associate Minister of Immigration, Associate Minister of Transport