Matthew Hooton. Photo: RNZMatthew Hooton says the prospect of continuing to commute to Wellington helped him decide to resign from his job with the National Party, just months after he was hired. Hooton drew scrutiny and withdrew from media commentary in May, when he offered advice to Todd Muller, in the lead-up to Muller's challenge for leadership of the National Party. Before that, the prominent political commentator and lobbyist had been a regular on RNZ shows, sharing his analysis of New Zealand politics. Hooton confirmed in a Facebook post yesterday that he had offered his resignation to current National leader Judith Collins, telling her he "wanted to finish in Wellington and get back to family and other interests in Auckland".

Source: Otago Daily Times August 01, 2020 05:37 UTC