Gareth Hughes (politician)


Gareth Thomas Llewelyn Hughes is a New Zealand politician and member of the Green Party. He took a seat in Parliament as the next person on the Green party list following the retirement of Jeanette Fitzsimons in February 2010.
Hughes has indicated he will leave Parliament at the 2020 New Zealand general election.

Early life

Hughes grew up in Gisborne, and, after attending Gisborne Boys' High School, studied religious studies, history and politics at Victoria University of Wellington. He became a vegetarian while a student. He worked for Greenpeace in Australia and New Zealand from 2000–2005, and then worked for the Green Party on climate change issues. He is married with two children, Arlo and Zoe.
In May 2004, Hughes was arrested after dressing as Ronald McDonald and chaining himself to the gates of McDonald's New Zealand distribution centre in Wiri, Auckland, protesting against the use of genetically modified chicken feed.
In 2009 Hughes co-ordinated Greenpeace New Zealand's 'Sign On' campaign, which called for stronger action on climate change.

Member of Parliament

Hughes contested the 2008 election for the Green Party. Placed at 11 on the party list and campaigning mostly for the party vote, Hughes finished fourth in the Ōhariu electorate. The party did not poll sufficiently high for Hughes to be elected immediately, but he was declared elected after the retirement of list MP and former co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons. Hughes was sworn in as an MP on 16 February 2010. He was the youngest MP in Parliament at the time of his election.
In his maiden speech on 24 February 2010, Hughes declared his support for a New Zealand republic. In his first term, Hughes was the Green Party's spokesperson on housing, ICT, libraries and archives, tertiary education, GE, food, oceans, transport, and youth.
In the 2011 general election he stood in the Ōhariu electorate again and was ranked seventh on the Green party list, and was re-elected as a list MP. In the 2014 general election he stood only on the party list, ranked fifth, and was elected for a third time. During this term of Parliament, the male co-leader of the Party, Russel Norman, resigned and Hughes stood for the vacant co-leadership role as the self-described "underdog." Ultimately, the contest was won by first-term MP James Shaw.
Hughes, along with the rest of the Green Party, voted in support of Marriage Amendment Act 2013, allowing same-sex couples to legally marry in New Zealand.
In November 2016, it was announced that Hughes would be running for the East Coast electorate against National Party MP Anne Tolley. This electorate is the one he was raised in. He was returned to Parliament as the Greens' fifth-ranked and longest serving list MP. When the Greens agreed to support a Labour-New Zealand First coalition Government, Hughes was not appointed to a Ministerial position and instead continued as the party musterer. In 2019, he announced his intention to retire at the next general election. Ahead of his retirement, and for family reasons, he relocated himself to be the Green Party's member of Parliament based in Dunedin.