Greens co-leader James Shaw announces he is standing down from his role in March.
Video / Mark Mitchell
Outgoing Greens co-leader James Shaw told Newstalk ZB this morning he was “relieved” to have the news out in the open.
”I’m looking forward to what’s next for me,” Shaw said.
He said his leaving date is still up in the air, but it will “certainly happen this year”.
”I haven’t had a chance to talk to the prime minister or the government about you know, what their views are on it or to other parties about what their views are on it and so on,” Shaw said.
”So, I just want to kind of do that before I make any final decisions.”
He did not want to speculate if he would take up the Climate Commission chair role but did say he does not think it would be appropriate for a former politician to fill the role.
”The whole idea was that it was independent politically and expert-based and so on,” Shaw said.
Shaw confirmed his counterpart Marama Davidson is still committed to being part of the government in 2026.
He also deflected the idea he “misled” his electorate by leaving so soon after the election.
”Well, what I was campaigning for was to be returned into government for a third term, and I was always very transparent,” Shaw said.
Although the job was “mind-bogglingly frustrating almost every single day”, Shaw said that given the opportunity he would do it all over again.
Listen live: James Shaw talks to Mike Hosking at 7am
Nominations to succeed James Shaw as Green Party co-leader open this morning, after Shaw announced his resignation yesterday on Parliament’s resumption.
The party rules mandate there be one male and one female co-leader, but a rule change in 2022 means that the party only requires one of the co-leaders to be a woman and one of the co-leaders to be Māori.
Because those criteria can be filled by one person, and Marama Davidson is wahine Māori, the position Shaw vacates can be filled by someone of any ethnicity or gender.
There is only one candidate people are talking about: Chlöe Swarbrick, who enjoys broad support from the party members, caucus, and the public at large.
She regularly features in Preferred Prime Minister polls, and often polls higher than Shaw or Davidson. She doesn’t poll very high, but simply appearing in that poll as an MP from a minor party who is not already leader is a feat.
But whether Swarbrick wants the co-leadership is a legitimate question. Julie Anne Genter is another logical contender.
Green co-leader James Shaw and Chlöe Swarbrick hours after Shaw announced his resignation. Photo / Mark Mitchell
With Shaw gone, the Greens may be looking to have someone comfortable with numbers in the co-leadership. Swarbrick and Genter would both fulfil this, having held a number of financial portfolios for the party.
The third name in the mix is Teanau Tuiono.
Nominations are open until February 14.
The new co-leader is expected to be announced on March 10.
When Shaw entered Parliament in 2014, he was already an outlier to the stereotype - rightly or wrongly - of hemp-wearing, tree-hugging Greenies; he had a corporate background, albeit in roles where he tried to steer companies to sustainable practices.
It was in those roles that he decided he wanted to become an MP, knowing he could advance the causes he cared about much more in Parliament.
Despite being an MP for only a handful of months, he put his hand up for the co-leadership contest in 2015, and when he won, one of the first things he said was that he was open to working with the National Party on climate change.
Therein lies Shaw’s strategy. It was more important to him to have effective legislation that survived changes in government, rather than something stronger that would just be repealed before it could really make a difference.
Thomas Coughlan is deputy political editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.
