RIP Jonathan Hunt

The Herald reports:

The Labour Party is mourning the death of one if its longest-serving MPs, Jonathan Hunt, who has died aged 85.

Entering Parliament in 1966, Hunt was an MP for 39 years, 30 of which were as MP for New Lynn.

Becoming a minister in the David Lange Government, he held roles as Minister of Housing, Tourism, and Broadcasting, as well as the Postmaster-General.

Hunt was appointed Speaker of the House in 1999 by the Helen Clark Government.

After leaving Parliament in 2005, he went on to serve as the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom for three years.

He was also famously nicknamed the Minister of Wine and Cheese, and was appointed as a member of the Order of New Zealand in 2005.

I know a lot of Labour Party staff who adored Jonathan Hunt, and spoke of how kind he was and always asking how they were.

He was a parliamentary institution, and was the Father of the House from 1991 to 2005. That made him the longest serving Father of the House since Sir Apirana Ngata.

My thoughts are with his friends and colleagues.