Editing Jim Sutton

{{Short description|New Zealand politician}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
|name        = Jim Sutton
|honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CNZM|size=100%}}
|image       = Jim Sutton New Zealand MP.jpg
|caption     = Sutton in 2007
|order       = [[Minister of Agriculture (New Zealand)|Minister of Agriculture]]
|primeminister= [[Geoffrey Palmer (New Zealand politician)|Geoffrey Palmer]]<br>[[Mike Moore (New Zealand politician)|Mike Moore]]
|term_start  = 9 February 1990
|term_end    = 2 November 1990
|primeminister2=[[Helen Clark]]
|term_start2 = 10 December 1999
|term_end2   = 19 October 2005
|constituency_MP3 =  [[Waitaki (New Zealand electorate)|Waitaki]]
|parliament3  =  New Zealand
|majority3    =  <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by adding a number-->
|term_start3  =  [[1984 New Zealand general election|14 July 1984]]
|term_end3    =  [[1990 New Zealand general election|27 October 1990]]
|predecessor3 =  [[Jonathan Elworthy]]
|successor3   =  [[Alec Neill]]
|constituency_MP4 =  [[Timaru (New Zealand electorate)|Timaru]]
|parliament4  =  New Zealand
|majority4    =  <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by adding a number-->
|term_start4  =  [[1993 New Zealand general election|6 November 1993]]
|term_end4    =  [[1996 New Zealand general election|12 October 1996]]
|predecessor4 =  [[Maurice McTigue]]
|successor4   =  ''Constituency abolished''
|constituency_MP5 =  [[Aoraki (New Zealand electorate)|Aoraki]]
|parliament5  =  New Zealand
|majority5    =  <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by adding a number-->
|term_start5  =  [[1996 New Zealand general election|12 October 1996]]
|term_end5    =  [[2005 New Zealand general election|17 September 2005]]
|predecessor5 =  ''Constituency established''
|successor5   =  [[Jo Goodhew]]
|constituency_MP6 =  [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour Party]] [[list MP|list]]
|parliament6  =  New Zealand
|term_start6  =  [[2005 New Zealand general election|17 September 2005]]
|term_end6    =  30 July 2006
|successor6   =  [[Charles Chauvel (politician)|Charles Chauvel]]{{refn|group=n|Normally, list MPs do not have individual predecessors or successors, but Sutton resigned during a sitting parliament and therefore was succeeded by Chauvel.}}
|birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1941|11|7}}
|birth_place  = [[Reading, Berkshire]], England
|death_date   = 
|death_place  = 
|restingplace = 
|restingplacecoordinates = 
|birthname    = 
|nationality  = New Zealand
|party        = [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]]
|otherparty   =  <!--For additional political affiliations-->
|spouse       = 
|partner      =  <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married-->
|relations    = 
|children     = 
|residence    = 
|alma_mater   = 
|occupation   = 
|profession   = 
|cabinet      = 
|committees   = 
|portfolio    = 
|religion     = 
|signature    = 
|website      = 
|footnotes    = 
}}
'''James Robert Sutton''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CNZM}} (born 7 November 1941), generally known as '''Jim Sutton''', is a New Zealand politician who was a [[Member of parliament|Member of Parliament]] between 1984 and 1990 and again between 1993 and 2006. He has held a range of ministerial portfolios including Agriculture, Forestry, Rural Affairs, Biosecurity, and Trade Negotiations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/MPP/MPs/Former/d/1/b/48PlibMpsFormerJimSutton1-Sutton-Hon-Jim.htm|title=Former MPs – Hon. Jim Sutton|publisher=New Zealand Parliament|accessdate=27 January 2010}}</ref>

==Biography==
Sutton was born in [[Reading, Berkshire]], [[England]]. He came to New Zealand while young, arriving in 1949. He attended [[Timaru Boys' High School]] before becoming a farmer. Sutton is married, and has three children.

He has held a number of offices in [[Federated Farmers]], a nationwide agricultural association. He was also Director of Trustbank South Canterbury, chaired the New Zealand Aids Foundation, served as a board member of the Public Health Commission, and was deputy chair of both the [[New Zealand Lotteries Commission]] and Meridian Energy. His brother [[Bill Sutton (New Zealand politician)|Bill Sutton]] has also been a [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]] MP.

==Honours and awards==
Sutton was appointed as a [[Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit]] in the [[2007 New Year Honours#New Zealand|New Year Honours List 2007]] for ''public services as a member of parliament and Minister of the Crown''.<ref>{{cite web|title=New Year Honours List 2007|url=http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/node/373|work=C.N.Z.M|date=2 June 2003 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|accessdate=4 July 2012}}</ref>

==Member of Parliament==
{{NZ parlbox header|align=left}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=41st|start={{NZ election link year|1984}} |end=1987|party=New Zealand Labour Party|electorate=[[Waitaki (New Zealand electorate)|Waitaki]]}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=42nd|start={{NZ election link year|1987}} |end=1990|party=New Zealand Labour Party|electorate=Waitaki}}
{{NZ parlbox break}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=44th|start={{NZ election link year|1993}} |end=1996|party=New Zealand Labour Party|electorate=[[Timaru (New Zealand electorate)|Timaru]]}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=45th|start={{NZ election link year|1996}} |end=1999|party=New Zealand Labour Party|electorate=[[Aoraki (New Zealand electorate)|Aoraki]]|list=18}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=46th|start={{NZ election link year|1999}} |end=2002|party=New Zealand Labour Party|electorate=Aoraki|list=11}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=47th|start={{NZ election link year|2002}} |end=2005|party=New Zealand Labour Party|electorate=Aoraki|list=8}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=48th|start={{NZ election link year|2005}} |end=2006|party=New Zealand Labour Party|electorate=List|list=11}}
{{End}}{{clear|left}}
Sutton first stood for parliament in the [[1981 New Zealand general election|election of 1981]], becoming the [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour Party]]'s candidate for the [[Waitaki (New Zealand electorate)|Waitaki]] electorate. He was unsuccessful against [[New Zealand National Party|National]]'s [[Jonathan Elworthy]]. In the [[1984 New Zealand general election|1984 election]], however, he stood again, and won the electorate. Most rural electorates in New Zealand traditionally support the [[New Zealand National Party|National Party]], and so Sutton's victory as a Labour candidate was noteworthy.

Sutton retained his electorate in the [[1987 New Zealand general election|1987 general election]], but was defeated in the [[1990 New Zealand general election|election of 1990]]. He returned to farming for three years before being returned to Parliament as the MP for [[Timaru (New Zealand electorate)|Timaru]] in the [[1993 New Zealand general election|1993 general election]]. The switch to the [[Mixed Member Proportional|MMP]] electoral system caused significant redistribution of electorates for the [[1996 New Zealand general election|1996 general election]], and Sutton became the MP for [[Aoraki (New Zealand electorate)|Aoraki]], which included both of his former electorates.

===Ministerial role===
Sutton's first ministerial role had come in the dying days of the [[Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand|Fourth Labour Government]], shortly before he lost the Waitaki electorate. He served as Minister of Agriculture and [[Minister of Forestry (New Zealand)|Minister of Forestry]] for most of 1990, leaving cabinet when Labour was defeated in that year's election. However, when Labour won the [[1999 New Zealand general election|1999 general election]], Sutton became a minister once again in the [[Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand|Fifth Labour Government]]. He resumed his Agriculture portfolio while also becoming Minister for Rural Affairs and Minister for Trade Negotiations. In 2001, he gained the Biosecurity portfolio, and in 2002, he regained the Forestry portfolio. In the December 2004 cabinet reshuffle he dropped the Forestry portfolio and for Rural Affairs became Associate Minister.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=9004051&pnum=0|title=Clark names her 'transition' cabinet|last=Wilson|first=Peter |date=20 December 2004|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|accessdate=27 January 2010}}</ref>

===Retirement from politics===
In the [[2005 New Zealand general election|2005 general election]], Sutton lost his electorate by a substantial margin, facing the biggest drop in support in any electorate. This has been attributed to anger over things such as school closures, and his role in the [[Helen Clark#Second term|"speeding motorcade" affair]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10419956&pnum=0|title=Only a purge will work|last=O'Sullivan|first=Fran|date=20 January 2007|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|accessdate=27 January 2010}}</ref> He remained in parliament as a list MP, but announced his retirement from politics on 10 July 2006, effective from 1 August 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10390592|title=Jim Sutton to quit politics|last=Berry|first=Ruth |date=10 July 2006|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|accessdate=27 January 2010}}</ref> He was replaced from the Labour list by [[Charles Chauvel (politician)|Charles Chauvel]].

Sutton subsequently became Ambassador for Trade<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfat.govt.nz/Media-and-publications/Publications/Newsletters/North-Asia/2007/hk-sep-oct07.php#visit|title=Hong Kong Review – September/October 2007|publisher=New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade|accessdate=27 January 2010}}</ref> and the chairman of [[Landcorp]], an appointment renewed by the National government in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10573347|title=National is busily appointing its own to prime positions|last=Trevett|first=Claire |date=20 May 2009|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|accessdate=27 January 2010}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=n}}

==References==
{{Commons category|Jim Sutton}}
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|nz}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Jonathan Elworthy]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Waitaki (New Zealand electorate)|Member of Parliament for Waitaki]]|years=1984–1990}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Alec Neill]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Maurice McTigue]]|years=1993–1996}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Timaru (New Zealand electorate)|Member of Parliament for Timaru]]|years=1993–1996}}
{{s-non|reason=Constituency abolished}}
{{s-new|constituency}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Aoraki (New Zealand electorate)|Member of Parliament for Aoraki]]|years=1996–2005}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jo Goodhew]]}}
{{end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Jim}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand farmers]]
[[Category:New Zealand Labour Party MPs]]
[[Category:People educated at Timaru Boys' High School]]
[[Category:New Zealand list MPs]]
[[Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election]]
[[Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1981 New Zealand general election]]
[[Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives]]
[[Category:New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates]]
[[Category:21st-century New Zealand politicians]]
[[Category:Ministers of agriculture of New Zealand]]