Boscawen retires

John Boscawen has just announced he is effectively retiring from Parliament at the election. He will continue as candidate for Tamaki but has pulled out of the party list.

John was the only current caucus member standing again for election. His retirement means that the post-election caucus will be 100% turnover – a first I suspect for a political party.

He is citing wanting to spend more time with his family:

“It was an incredibly hard decision not to seek re-election because I believe it is vital for the future of New Zealand that ACT is successful on election day.  However, being a Member of Parliament can be extremely demanding and time-consuming, and I haven’t been able to give my family as much time as they deserve.

“After much consideration, I’ve decided that my family must come first.  However, I will continue to stand as ACT’s candidate in the Tamaki electorate to do everything I can to help ACT win as many party votes as possible.”

There will obviously be speculation on whether anything specifically occurred that led to this decision. Boscawen was one of the few people not involved in the factional politics, and has been a very solid MP. His departure is a blow for them, but is good news for Don Nicolson and David Seymour whose chances of coming in as a List MP are enhanced.

If Cactus Kate had ended up No 3 on the ACT List, this would have made her No 2 and arguably in line to be Deputy Leader 🙂