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DAVID BLANCO / THINGS
Former New Zealand MP Shane Jones contemplates life after politics at Duke Marlborough.
It was a cloudy-eyed NZ First candidate, Shane Jones, who greeted reporters the morning after the election, admitting that he had drunk a gallon of red wine during a “harrowing night” for his party.
The former government minister spoke briefly to the media on Sunday after having breakfast at the Duke of Marlborough in Russell, where the NZ First election night events took place.
Dressed in a plain gray shirt, baseball cap and shorts, Jones said he had spoken with party leader Winston Peters, but that he would not rely on what the former deputy prime minister had said.
David White stuff.co.nz
A little less than Shane Jones faces the media in Russell the morning after the election.
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“It was a heartbreaking night,” Jones said, coughing.
“Since I had about a gallon of red wine last night … I haven’t spoken to anyone.”
But Jones, who was photographed dancing briskly the night away, had his theories as to why his party had only gotten 2.7 percent of the vote (before the special votes were counted).
DAVID BLANCO / THINGS
New Zealand’s first MP, Shane Jones, and his partner, Dot, hit the dance floor at the Duke of Marlborough in Russell on Saturday.
He will not return to parliament, with questions pending about the future of his MPs.
“Let’s face it, there was a red tsunami and the public was obviously tuned in to all the Korean Covid, and the forces that are right-wing, and I’m right-wing as a politician, it wasn’t a night for us,” Jones said.
He would not be drawn to the future, saying that it was up to Peters to chart the way forward.
DAVID BLANCO / THINGS
Former New Zealand MP Shane Jones contemplates life after politics at the Duke of Marlborough Hotel.
Jones also finished a distant third in Northland’s electorate race, garnering just 4,543 votes. National’s Matt King received 15,332 and Labor’s Willow-Jean Prime was second with 14,590.
“In terms of the North, I was amazed at how close the result was between Labor and National,” Jones said.
“And to all the people who have been complaining and complaining about me and complaining about the effects of the government’s policies, now I will tell you to go bake.”
Jones first entered Parliament in 2005 under the Labor Party banner and resigned in 2014. He returned in 2017 with NZ First. He has been widely considered Peters’ natural successor as the leader of NZ First.
