James Robert Sutton (born 7 November 1941), generally known as Jim Sutton, is a New Zealand politician who was a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
between 1984 and 1990 and again between 1993 and 2006. He has held a range of ministerial portfolios including Agriculture, Forestry, Rural Affairs, Biosecurity, and Trade Negotiations.
Biography
Sutton was born in
Reading, Berkshire
Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. He came to New Zealand while young, arriving in 1949. He attended
Timaru Boys' High School before becoming a farmer. Sutton is married, and has three children.
He has held a number of offices in
Federated Farmers
Federated Farmers of New Zealand is a lobby and advocacy group for all farmers: arable including fruit and vegetables, dairy and meat and their often remote communities. It has a network of 24 regional organisations and six industry groups. F ...
, a nationwide 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
The New Zealand Lotteries Commission, trading as Lotto New Zealand since 2013, is a Crown entity that operates nationwide lotteries in New Zealand. It was established in 1987 and operates under the Gambling Act 2003. Its oldest and most popula ...
and Meridian Energy. His brother
Bill Sutton has also been a
Labour MP.
Honours and awards
Sutton was appointed as a
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...
in the
New Year Honours List 2007 for ''public services as a member of parliament and Minister of the Crown''.
Member of Parliament
Sutton first stood for parliament in the
election of 1981, becoming the
Labour Party's candidate for the
Waitaki electorate. He was unsuccessful against
National
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
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* National, Maryland, c ...
's
Jonathan Elworthy. In the
1984 election, however, he stood again, and won the electorate. 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 electorate in the
1987 general election, 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
Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...
in the
1993 general election. The switch to the
MMP electoral system caused significant redistribution of electorates for the
1996 general election, and Sutton became the MP for
Aoraki
Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Its height, as of 2014, is listed as . It sits in the Southern Alps, the mountain range that runs the length of the South Island. A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourite ...
, which included both of his former electorates.
Ministerial role
Sutton's first ministerial role had come in the dying days of the
Fourth Labour Government, shortly before he lost the Waitaki electorate. 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 general election, Sutton became a minister once again in the
Fifth Labour Government
The Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 10 December 1999 to 19 November 2008. Labour Party leader Helen Clark negotiated a coalition with Jim Anderton, leader of the Alliance Party. While undertaking ...
. 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 the December 2004 cabinet reshuffle he dropped the Forestry portfolio and for Rural Affairs became Associate Minister.
Retirement from politics
In the
2005 general election, Sutton lost his electorate by a substantial margin, facing the biggest drop in support in any electorate. This has been attributed 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. He was replaced from the Labour list by
Charles Chauvel.
Sutton subsequently became Ambassador for Trade and the chairman of
Landcorp
Landcorp Farming Limited ("Landcorp") is a state-owned enterprise of the New Zealand government. Its brand name is Pāmu, the Te Reo Māori word 'to farm'. Its core business is pastoral farming including dairy, sheep, beef and deer, as well ...
, an appointment renewed by the National government in 2009.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Jim
1941 births
Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Living people
Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
New Zealand farmers
New Zealand Labour Party MPs
People educated at Timaru Boys' High School
New Zealand list MPs
Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election
Unsuccessful candidates in the 1981 New Zealand general election
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates
21st-century New Zealand politicians