Former National minister won't stand for Parliament, decides not to seek list position

Former minister Andrew Bayly has decided not to stand for Parliament at the election after previously saying he would consider seeking a list-only position for National. 

Bayly confirmed the move to the Herald at National’s annual conference on Saturday but denied it was prompted by the party’s poor polling, which meant it was unlikely he would return even with a list spot. 

He is not included as a candidate in party material handed out at the conference. 

On Friday night, National issued two press releases confirming the party board had chosen Gerry Brownlee and Nancy Lu for list-only positions, meaning they won’t contest an electorate. The party’s deputy Nicola Willis was previously confirmed as a list-only candidate. 

That raised questions over Bayly’s future. In March, he told the Herald he wouldn’t seek selection for his Port Waikato electorate, but instead look to get a list-only spot for National. 

But there was no email on Friday saying Bayly had received such a spot. 

Andrew Bayly (centre) won't be standing for Parliament again. Photo / Jamie Ensor 

On Saturday, he told the Herald he and his wife had decided he would not seek a list position. 

“We obviously came to a decision. You’ve got to make a decision at some point.” 

He denied that party polling played a part in his decision. 

“No, no, no, I just took that view.” 

He said Parliament had been an “interesting” place over the 12 years he had been a representative. 

“It’s a melting pot of different things.” 

In March, he said his decision not to stand for Port Waikato had been prompted by his desire to move to the South Island. He didn’t believe he could commit to another term as the electorate’s MP. 

At the time, it was understood Bayly still wanted to return to ministerial duties one day. 

Bayly was first elected to Parliament in 2014, initially for the Hunua electorate, which then became Port Waikato in 2020. 

The MP was briefly ranked third within the National Party under then-leader Judith Collins. He held the position of shadow-Treasurer until Collins was ousted and Christopher Luxon was installed as leader. 

After National took office in late 2023, Bayly was made Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Small Business and Manufacturing, and Statistics. 

He apologised in October 2024 after a complaint that he allegedly swore at, mocked and ridiculed a man during a ministerial visit to a winery in Marlborough, including by repeatedly calling the man a “loser” and telling him to “take some wine... and f*** off”. 

Bayly admitted calling the worker a “loser” and pulling an “L” on his forehead but denied swearing or that he had been drinking before the interactions. He acknowledged he took part in a small wine tasting, but that was after interacting with the worker. 

The Herald later revealed images of Bayly at the winery, including drinking from a wine glass at what appeared to be a wine tasting at the vineyard. 

He said at the time he had meant his actions in a light-hearted manner but he understood they had offended the worker. 

Luxon described the behaviour as disappointing but said he had got assurances it wouldn’t happen again. 

However, months later in February last year, Bayly resigned his ministerial portfolios after an allegation he “placed a hand” on a staff member’s arm during an “animated discussion”. 

But last October, Bayly said he had learnt no formal complaint had been made against him and a claim the allegation was corroborated by three other people wasn’t correct. 

“That’s what made me get to a position that I put my resignation in,” Bayly said. “If I’d known what I do now, I wouldn’t have offered it.” 

The Prime Minister, however, maintained Bayly made the right decision to resign and would have been sacked otherwise. 

“I don’t want to go into the ins and outs of it,” Luxon said late last year. 

“But the bottom line is, look, in the information I had at the time, the information I have today, coupled with the previous incident at the end of last year, I think he made the right decision to resign.”