Brian Donnelly

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Parl.	Electorate	List Pos.	Party
45th	List	6	NZ First
46th	List	3	NZ First
47th	List	3	NZ First
48th	List	3	NZ First

For the American Congressman, see Brian J. Donnelly.

Brian Donnelly (1949 - ) is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the New Zealand First party.

Donnelly was trained as a teacher, and worked in the education sector for twenty years. He served for a time as principal of two schools. In the 1993 election, he stood for the newly-formed New Zealand First in the Whangarei electorate, but was unsuccessful. In the 1996 election, with the advent of the MMP system, Donnelly was ranked third on the New Zealand First party list, and entered Parliament. He has retained his third-place position in New Zealand First's list ever since.

When New Zealand First formed a coalition with the National Party, Donnelly became Minister Responsible for the Education Review Office, Associate Minister of Education, and Associate Minister of Pacific Island Affairs. When the coalition disintegrated, and New Zealand First itself began to splinter, Donnelly was one of those MPs who remained loyal to the party. He was one of five New Zealand First MPs to avoid the collapse of the party's vote in the 1999 election. Since the 2002 election he has chaired Parliament's Education and Science Committee.

Donnelly has been regarded as a social liberal within his caucus, and voted for civil unions in New Zealand as well as Sue Bradford's more recent private members bill to outlaw parental corporal punishment of children (or spanking). In retaliation, current New Zealand First Party President Dail Jones has threatened demotion of the long-serving List MP, as well as fellow repeal supporter Doug Woolerton [1]