Can you be Foreign Minister and an Electorate MP?
Stuff reports:
The first shots of an electoral showdown in Christchurch have been fired after Ilam incumbent Gerry Brownlee was confirmed as the next Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Current city councillor Raf Manji, who will challenge Brownlee for the Ilam seat in Christchurch’s northwest at September’s election, has questioned whether Brownlee can remain an effective local MP while carrying out his new role.
Brownlee has refuted Manji’s comments, saying former foreign ministers have managed to do both jobs.
I thought I’d look at the Foreign Ministers under MMP and see how many were Electorate and List.
- 1996 Don McKinnon, List
- 1999 Phil Goff, Electorate
- 2002 Phil Goff, Electorate
- 2005 Winston Peters, List
- 2008 Murray McCully, Electorate
- 2011 Murray McCully, Electorate
- 2014 Murray McCully, Electorate
- 2017 Gerry Brownlee, Electorate
So for the last 21 years, an electorate MP has been Foreign Minister for 15 of the 21 years.