Stuart Nash has resigned as a New Zealand First candidate after privately describing National MP Katie Nimon as lazy for taking maternity leave. The comments drew condemnation across Parliament and a direct rebuke from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

NZ First leader Winston Peters announced the resignation on his official Facebook page late on Wednesday night. "Stuart Nash has offered his resignation as a candidate and we have accepted," Peters wrote. Nash confirmed his withdrawal on Thursday, saying he had reached the decision after discussion with NZ First leadership.

The controversy began with a private message Nash sent about Nimon, National's MP for Napier. He called her lazy for taking nine months off at full pay. Nimon had in fact taken six months' maternity leave after having a baby. MPs at Parliament roundly condemned the comments as sexist on the Wednesday before the resignation was announced.

Luxon was blunt. He called Nash's comments "sexist" and said Nash was "channelling the manosphere" — a term referring to online communities known for hostility towards women. The Prime Minister also stated on social media that Nash would not serve as a minister in any government he leads.

Nash, a former Labour minister who had switched to NZ First, said the private message had become a "significant distraction" and he did not want it to cost NZ First or the people of Napier the campaign they deserved.

The resignation brings to a close a candidacy that had already attracted scrutiny. In September 2025, Nash resigned from his position at recruitment agency Robert Walters after a formal review was initiated following separate comments he made about women. That incident predated his NZ First candidacy but added to a pattern of controversy around his public statements about women.

Nash was seeking the Napier seat, which Nimon holds for National. His comments about her maternity leave struck at a sensitive intersection of gender, workplace entitlements and campaign conduct.

Luxon's intervention was notable for its directness. By publicly ruling Nash out of any ministerial post in a National-led government, the Prime Minister effectively made the candidacy untenable regardless of what NZ First decided. In New Zealand's MMP system, coalition partners negotiate over which of their MPs get ministerial roles, but the Prime Minister has the final say on who serves in Cabinet. That Peters accepted the resignation the same day MPs roundly condemned the comments suggests the political calculation was straightforward.

For NZ First, the departure removes a candidate who brought name recognition and ministerial experience but also carried significant baggage. Nash's move from Labour minister to NZ First candidate was itself unusual. The party will now need to find a replacement candidate for Napier.

The broader context here is one of parliamentary norms around maternity leave and how sitting MPs who take parental leave are treated. Nash's characterisation of Nimon as "lazy" for taking time away from Parliament after childbirth drew criticism not only for its inaccuracy but for framing a statutory entitlement as a personal failing. That framing is what prompted the cross-party condemnation.

Nash's statement that he did not want the matter to be a "significant distraction" signals an acceptance that the controversy had overtaken his ability to campaign effectively. Whether NZ First can reset its Napier campaign without him is a question for the party to address in the coming days.

The resignation was announced on July 22, 2026.