He previously served as deputy leader of the National Party under Collins and briefly as interim leader until Luxon took the top job in late 2021.
Shane Reti is leaving politics after the election. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Upon entering Government in 2023, Reti held the role of Minister of Health, but that was stripped from him early last year as part of a Cabinet reshuffle.
Luxon at the time said he hadn’t lost confidence in Reti, but believed someone with the skills of Simeon Brown was necessary in the role. Reti had faced ongoing scrutiny over Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora’s deficits and governance changes.
In announcing his retirement on Tuesday, Reti said he wanted to thank “the people of Whangārei for the great privilege of serving them and to my partner and family for their understanding and unconditional contribution to this career”.
“I have always felt valued by the National Party and for that I thank the Prime Minister, local party executive, and my colleagues and staff in Wellington and Whangārei offices for their support over many years as Whangārei MP, deputy leader of the National Party, interim leader of the National Party and as a minister.”
He said highlights include progressing the four lanes to Whangārei and advancing policies that as Minister of Health expanded breast cancer screening for 70– to 74-year-old New Zealand women and establishing a third medical school at Waikato, as well as “reshaping the science and technology sector to look more like other small advanced economies that improves benefits to taxpayers has been a privilege – especially amalgamating the seven Crown Research Institutes into three Public Research Organisations”.
Reti was first elected to the seat of Whangārei in 2014, holding it until the 2020 election, when he lost it to Labour’s Emily Henderson. He won the electorate back in 2023 with a margin of 11,424 votes.
Jamie Ensor is the NZ Herald’s chief political reporter, based in the press gallery at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. He was a finalist in 2025 for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.