Jim Sutton

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James Robert Sutton, CNZM (born 7 November 1941), generally known as Jim Sutton, was a New Zealand politician from 1984 - 1990 and from 1993 - 2006. He has held a range of ministerial portfolios including Agriculture, Forestry, Rural Affairs, Biosecurity, and Trade Negotiations.

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[edit] Biography

Sutton was born in Reading, Berkshire, England. He came to New Zealand while young, arriving in 1949. He attended high school in Timaru before becoming a farmer. Sutton is married, and has three children.

He has held a number of offices in Federated Farmers, a nation-wide agricultural association. He was also Director of Trustbank South Canterbury, chaired the New Zealand Aids Foundation, served as a board member of the Public Health Commission, and was Deputy Chair of both the New Zealand Lotteries Commission and Meridian Energy. His brother Bill Sutton has also been a Labour MP.

[edit] Waitiki Seat

Sutton first stood for parliament in the election of 1981, becoming the Labour Party's candidate for the Waitaki seat. He was unsuccessful. In the 1984 election, however, he stood again, and won the seat. Most rural electorates in New Zealand traditionally support the National Party, and so Sutton's victory as a Labour candidate was noteworthy.

Sutton retained his seat in the 1987 elections, but was defeated in the election of 1990. He returned to farming for three years before being returned to parliament as the MP for Timaru in the 1993 elections. The switch to the MMP electoral system caused significant redistribution of electorates for the 1996 election, and Sutton became the MP for Aoraki, which included both of his former electorates.

Parl. Electorate List Pos. Party
41st Waitaki Labour
42nd Waitaki Labour
44th Timaru Labour
45th Aoraki 18 Labour
46th Aoraki 11 Labour
47th Aoraki 8 Labour
48th List 11 Labour

[edit] Ministerial Role

Sutton's first ministerial role had come in the dying days of the Fourth Labour Government, shortly before he lost his Waitaki seat. He served as Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Forestry for most of 1990, leaving cabinet when Labour was defeated in that year's election. However, when Labour won the 1999 elections, Sutton became a minister once again in the Fifth Labour Government. He resumed his Agriculture portfolio while also becoming Minister for Rural Affairs and Minister for Trade Negotiations. In 2001, he gained the Biosecurity portfolio, and in 2002, he regained the Forestry portfolio. In a December 2004 cabinet reshuffle he dropped his Forestry and Rural Affairs portfolios.

[edit] Retirement from Politics

In the 2005 elections, Sutton lost his seat by a substantial margin, facing the biggest drop in support in any electorate. This has been contributed to anger over things such as school closures, and his role in the "speeding motorcade" affair. He remained in parliament as a list MP, but announced his retirement from politics on 10 July 2006, effective from 1 August 2006. Sutton will become a trade ambassador and the chairman of Landcorp.