John Banks

John Archibald Banks (born 2 December 1946) is a New Zealand former politician. He was a member of Parliament for the National Party from 1981 to 1999, and for ACT New Zealand from 2011 to 2014. He was a Cabinet Minister from 1990 to 1996 and 2011 to 2013. He left Parliament after being convicted of filing a false electoral return – a verdict which was later overturned. In between his tenures in Parliament, he served as Mayor of Auckland City for two terms, from 2001 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2010. When seven former smaller councils were combined into one to run the Auckland 'supercity' in 2010, Banks unsuccessfully ran for mayor again. The electoral return that he filed after that campaign, detailing donations received and campaign expenses, was the subject of Banks' conviction and eventual acquittal. After new evidence came to light, it was decided in May 2015 that there would be no retrial.