Shane Jones

Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician. He is deputy leader of New Zealand First and a Member of Parliament (MP) in the New Zealand House of Representatives. Jones' political career began in 2005 as a list MP for the Labour Party. He became a cabinet minister in his first term, serving as Minister for Building and Construction in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand. Following Labour's defeat in the 2008 election, he was a senior opposition MP and unsuccessfully contested the leadership of the Labour Party in a 2013 leadership election. He left parliament the following year for a brief diplomatic career, before returning as a New Zealand First MP at the 2017 general election. Jones was Minister for Regional Economic Development and Minister of Forestry in the Labour–New Zealand First coalition government from 2017 to 2020. He was elected for a fifth non-consecutive term in Parliament at the 2023 general election, and is Minister for Oceans and Fisheries, Minister for Regional Development, and Minister for Resources in the National–ACT–New Zealand First coalition government.