Steven Joyce’s eclectic career – in and out of politics

National’s ‘‘Mr Fix-it’’ is bowing out after a decade in politics to return to the commercial world that made him a millionaire.

Steven Joyce has been a minister for nine years and the political party’s campaign chairman for five general elections.

But his resignation comes after National failed to return to Government after three successful terms under Sir John Key and Bill English, and his own unsuccessful bid to replace English as leader.

The 54-year-old grew up in Taranaki, where he attended Francis Douglas Memorial College before heading to Massey University.

He graduated with a degree in zoology, then started a successful radio station in New Plymouth, which he and his business partners built up to become RadioWorks.

Joyce resigned as RadioWorks managing director in 2001, making his millions when the station was sold to CanWest. He insists he’s not returning to radio when he leaves Parliament.

It was after his broadcasting success that Joyce joined National as its campaign manager from outside of Parliament for both the 2005 and 2008 elections.

Joyce entered politics in 2008 and was quickly made the minister for transport and communications. Over the years, he has held the portfolios for tertiary education, science and innovation, economic development, infrastructure and, most recently, finance.

His career has not been without controversy, most notably over the deal he signed with Auckland casino SkyCity, allowing it to install an additional 230 pokie machines and dozens of gambling tables.

That ‘‘Mr Fix-it’’ nickname evolved due to his responsibilities expanding whenever he stepped in to help ministers who were struggling with their workloads.

This included the Novopay debacle, where thousands of teachers were overpaid or underpaid, and Fonterra’s wide-scale recall of dairy products after a suspected botulism-causing bacteria was detected.

International news headlines and attention did not escape him either – the most memorable of which was his Last Week Tonight appearances with comedian John Oliver.

The American TV show host went to town on Joyce after an anti-TPPA protester threw a dildo at the MP’s head in Waitangi two years ago, and again over his ‘‘pretty legal’’ remarks when he was asked whether the National Party had used Eminem-esque music for a campaign video.

While Joyce’s time as the party’s campaign chairman was mostly successful, he had struggled to shake off losing the Northland seat to NZ First leader Winston Peters in a 2015 by-election.

Later, his insistence that Labour had an $11.7 billion ‘‘fiscal hole’’ during the 2017 election campaign – a claim not supported by economists – was also a black mark on his political record.

Despite having never stood for an electorate nor contested a leadership role in the previous decade, Joyce threw his hat in the ring – at the 11th hour – to become the fifth contender in National’s recent leadership vote.

Unsuccessful in his bid and with new National leader Simon Bridges failing to return his finance ministerial portfolio, Joyce made the decision to quit the political arena and seek new opportunities.