Former Labour MP Stuart Nash not ruling out running for NZ First at next election

Former Labour Party minister and Napier MP Stuart Nash.

• Stuart Nash is not denying rumours he is eyeing up a candidacy for NZ First.
• Nash was a Minister in the last Labour Government.
• He is no longer a member of any party.

Former Labour Minister Stuart Nash is not hosing down rumours of a political comeback at the 2026 election, saying it is a case of “never say never”.

The Wellington rumour mill has been turning for weeks with suggestions Nash might be plotting to start his own party or run for an existing party.

“Never say never,” said Nash, when this was put to him.

Nash is no longer the member of any political party and said he has not been asked to run by any party.

He has been very critical of Labour and its allies recently and earlier this week called the Greens a “bunch of rogues and vagabonds” over Tamatha Paul’s comments about police.

Nash said he’s not a member of any political party, but he appears to be leaning in the direction of NZ First.

“I still enjoy the company of politicians and I especially enjoy the company of Winston [Peters] and Darroch [Ball, Peters’ chief of staff],” he said.

“I have an immense amount of respect for Winston Peters. I think he is one the best politicians in Parliament at the moment. I enjoy his company [and] I enjoy just listening to what he says.

“It will always be up to the leaders of a party to determine where they go. I’m not prepared to make any comment on what NZ First might do in the future, but like I said, Winston I have an immense amount of respect for - the man and his legacy and his experience and competency and capabilities,” Nash said.

Winston Peters, former Napier mayor Bill Dalton and Stuart Nash at McLean Park in Napier, Photo / NZME

NZ First was approached for comment. The party has not begun its candidate selection and list ranking process.

Nash was critical of Labour, his former party.

“I think Labour is losing touch with the people who returned it to power in 2020 and gave them power in 2017.”

Nash was a Labour MP from 2008 to 2023, with a brief spell out of Parliament following the 2011 election. He served as chief of staff to Labour Leader David Shearer.

For most of his time in Parliament he held the Napier seat. He is also the great-grandson of Sir Walter Nash, a Labour Prime Minister. He was sacked by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins in 2023 after he leaked confidential Cabinet information to a donor

Nash said Labour had lost touch with its roots.

“Labour can’t forget its roots. When it does, it never does well. When it gets back to its roots, it’s a party that defends the rights of the working class, but by the working class, I mean those who work really hard, not those who complain the loudest,” Nash said.

Nash said people in an electorate like Napier, which encompassed the city of Napier as well as its rural surrounds, needed to be won back by Labour.

“The people I represented, you know, provincial New Zealand, they worry about the radical antics of the Māori Party for example. The Benjamin Doyle stuff and the Tamatha Paul stuff - that does not resonate.

“Labour’s got to be very careful, because people will say ‘shivers, if I vote for Labour and they’re going to be in power, then how much of a say are the Greens or the Māori party going to have in the policies of a Labour-led Government?‘” he said.

He said he had no animosity toward Labour leader Chris Hipkins, who he respected, and Finance Spokesperson Barbara Edmonds, who worked in Nash’s office.

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.