Climate minister on being back at helm of Greens and tackling farm emissions

A humbled James Shaw is back as a co-leader of the Green Party and under no illusion about what lies ahead for the party and for his own role within it.

‘‘I lost my job ... People kind of argue the numbers ... but that doesn’t change the result.’’

Shaw initially lost the coleadership at the party’s annual meeting in late July, having failed to win the required 75% of the vote under the party’s rules if standing unopposed. That set off a weekslong campaign to regain the role.

In particular, a significant minority of party members were frustrated by what they saw as a lack of climate ambition.

Since the defeat, which Shaw says helpfully shined a spotlight on what he had been saying already, he has made it his business to be more vocal about the Labour Government’s climate shortcomings and slowness.

‘‘People actually saw me saying it. And I have to say, that has been the No 1 thing that people have been talking about over the course of the last six weeks.’’

Now that the contest – in which Shaw won 138 of 142 delegate votes – is over, he is back focused on being both co-leader and the climate change minister. He likened the contest to a ‘‘mini-election campaign’’ up and down the country, one that involved eating scones in far-flung places with party members.

He said Covid-19 restrictions – which the Greens took a more cautious approach to than did other parties – meant he had not connected with party members for a long period. ‘‘Like anything, that has consequences – and for me as a Wellington-based MP, I mean, I had virtually not left the city in two years.’’

Now the leadership is firmly preparing the party for the run-up to an election that is probably only 14 months away.