Shane Jones has had enough

Far North born and bred Labour MP Shane Jones will leave politics at the end of next month, saying he had come to the conclusion over Easter that it was time to go. His decision reportedly shocked his party, but did not come as a great surprise to many outside it.

He was clearly disappointed by his failure to win the leader's job, and his blend of social conscience and tough love increasingly set him apart from many of his left-leaning colleagues.

Mr Jones said on Tuesday evening, when news of his decision broke, that he had been in talks with Foreign Minister Murray McCully for some time about a possible role in international fisheries management, and expected those talks to prove fruitful. TV3 reported that he would be taking on a role of Pacific Economic Ambassador, created by the National government especially for him.

Mr Jones entered Parliament in 2005 and was promoted to Cabinet in November 2007, as Minister for Building and Construction. He was re-elected to Parliament in 2008, and has served as Labour's spokesman for Maori affairs and economic development, and associate spokesman for finance.

Over recent months he has been an outspoken critic of supermarket chains using their buying power to influence suppliers, but a notably deflated Mr Jones said on Tuesday that he had lost his appetite for life as a politician, and that his decision to leave was the best one for him and the Labour Party.

"I was true to myself after I lost the leadership," he said. "I'm not able to give Labour the 100 per cent that I ought to be giving. They need a team that will stay for the long term, and I'm not in that space.

"The leadership has a bit to do with it, but also I'm 55 this year, and I just want to go and do something else."