Jonathan Hunt

This article is about the former Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. For the man who served in United States Congress from 1827 to 1832, see Jonathan Hunt (United States).

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-- bgcolor=#EEEEEE Parl. Electorate List Pos. Party

-- bgcolor=#FFE8E8 35th New Lynn Labour

-- bgcolor=#FFE8E8 36th New Lynn Labour

-- bgcolor=#FFE8E8 37th New Lynn Labour

-- bgcolor=#FFE8E8 38th New Lynn Labour

-- bgcolor=#FFE8E8 39th New Lynn Labour

-- bgcolor=#FFE8E8 40th New Lynn Labour

-- bgcolor=#FFE8E8 41st New Lynn Labour

-- bgcolor=#FFE8E8 42nd New Lynn Labour

-- bgcolor=#FFE8E8 43rd New Lynn Labour

-- bgcolor=#FFE8E8 44th New Lynn Labour

-- bgcolor=#FFE8E8 45th List 7 Labour

-- bgcolor=#FFE8E8 46th List 6 Labour

-- bgcolor=#FFE8E8 47th List 3 Labour The Right Hon. Jonathan Hunt, ONZ, (born December 2, 1938) is a New Zealand politician, and currently New Zealand's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He formerly served as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He is a member of the Labour Party, and was until recently the longest serving MP in Parliament.

Hunt was born in Lower Hutt, but grew up in Palmerston North and Auckland. After studying at Auckland Grammar School, he enrolled at Auckland University, where he gained a BA (Hons) degree.

In 1958 Hunt was elected editor of the Auckland University Students' Association's (AUSA) Craccum magazine for the 1959 year.

After graduating, Hunt became a high school teacher and then a university tutor. Hunt also has a long-standing relationship with the Department of Political Studies at the University, which for many years has collected and archived Hunt's personal and professional papers.

In 1966, Hunt was elected to Parliament in Auckland's New Lynn electorate. He remained MP for New Lynn until 1996, when he became a list MP. At various times, he served as Minister of Telecommunications and Broadcasting, Minister of Tourism, Minister of Housing, and Postmaster General. He was the longest serving member of Parliament, earning him the unofficial title of 'Father of the House'. In 1989, Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer nominated Hunt a member of the Privy Council in recognition of his long service.

After first serving as Deputy Speaker during the fourth Labour government, he was elected Speaker when the fifth Labour government came to power in 1999. He retained his position following the election in 2002. In December 2004, it was announced that he would retire from politics and replace Russell Marshall as New Zealand High Commissioner in London, a move that had long been anticipated. He was replaced as Speaker by Margaret Wilson on 3 March 2005, and left Parliament on 30 March. As a list MP, his vacant parliamentary seat was filled by the next available candidate on the Labour Party list, Lesley Soper.

Hunt is a member of the Order of New Zealand, the New Zealand government's highest honour.

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