{"id":261062,"date":"2026-01-28T02:29:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T02:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/261062\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T02:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T02:29:07","slug":"judith-collins-retiring-from-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/261062\/","title":{"rendered":"Judith Collins retiring from politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

National’s Judith Collins<\/a> won\u2019t be standing in the November 7 election<\/a> – instead, she’ll be the head of the Law Commission.<\/p>\n

Known as the\u00a0Mother of the House<\/a> for currently being the longest continuously serving female MP (she was first elected in 2002), she’ll hang up that title in mid-2026 to take up the role as president of the New Zealand Law Commission, succeeding Mark Hickford.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon publicly shared Collins\u2019 new role<\/a> on Wednesday, saying; \u201cit is with great regret and enormous gratitude that I thank Judith for her service; however I am delighted she will take up this prestigious appointment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins is currently the Attorney-General, Minister of Defence, Minister for Digitising Government, Minister for the Public Service, Minister Responsible for the GCSB, Minister Responsible for the NZSIS and Minister for Space. She is also the MP for Papakura.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Collins said it had been a privilege to serve her electorate of Papakura as local MP and New Zealanders as a Minister across 18 portfolios (some of them twice) during her 24-year run in Parliament.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Collins said: \u201cThe highs have been high. The lows have been very low. And through it all I have been able to do what I do because of the unwavering support of my husband, David, and my son, James.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins thanked Luxon for his confidence in her “and for trusting me just to get on and do my job.”<\/p>\n

She also thanked her staff and electorate volunteers. \u201cI simply could not have done this job without you all.\u201d<\/p>\n

A highlight for Collins this term was landing the Defence Capability Plan. Some of the other highlights in her political career include restoring ownership of Top of the South land to its original owners, the Judicature Modernisation Bill, banning smoking in prisons, being the first Minister for Technology and for Space.<\/p>\n

When it came to the Dirty Politics controversy<\/a>, Collins said: “What a load of rubbish that was … I was exonerated in the Chisholm inquiry.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said it was a really hard time, “but my friends stuck with me and my electorate stuck with me”.<\/p>\n

Collins said she loved her work in Parliament, but \u201call good things have to come to an end\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve done my dash, it\u2019s time for someone else to step in and take over some of these roles and to have an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she did not think her leaving will hurt or harm the National Party. \u201cThere are other people who can step into these roles \u2026 People have got to have opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it will refresh and it will give an opportunity to refresh in the electorate as well,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n

When it came to a potential by-election, Collins said they would need to talk to other parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to do that \u2026 I don\u2019t want to make it difficult for everyone else,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For people coming into politics, Collins said you have to be prepared for the \u201crough and tumble\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a brutal environment sometimes but actually the longer you\u2019re there, the more you get to have relationships with people and get to know them as human beings,\u201d Collins said, before mentioning Labour\u2019s Barbara Edmonds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get good friendships. Obviously you don\u2019t agree on everything, that\u2019s fine. And we don\u2019t have to hate people because we don\u2019t agree with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it came to her new role, Collins said the Law Commission was not there to play political games. \u201cIt\u2019s got to be apolitical in its operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins said she was happy to go on a high.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore being elected to Parliament I practised law for 21 years. Some might say law is my first love, so it seems fitting it will soon be my professional focus once again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luxon said: \u201cJudith has given more than two decades of her life to Parliament and public service as a Member of Parliament, Minister, and Leader of the Opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout that time, she has served this country with commitment and conviction. She has carried a wide range of portfolios in Government and fronted some of the most difficult challenges without flinching,\u201d Luxon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking alongside Judith over the past six years, I have seen firsthand her deep commitment to New Zealand, her loyalty to our team, and her unshakeable belief in standing up for what she thinks is right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a personal level, I\u2019ve seen Judith\u2019s compassion for the people she represents, her love for her family, her sharp mind and sense of humour, and her quiet acts of kindness that most people will never know about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of the Government and the National Party I want to thank Judith for all she has given this country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"National’s Judith Collins won\u2019t be standing in the November 7 election – instead, she’ll be the head of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[114,268,85,46,266,267],"class_list":{"0":"post-261062","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}