Andrew Bayly

Andrew Bayly
Born	1962 Whanganui, New Zealand
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, explorer, politician
Years active	2014–present (politics)
Known for	Member of Parliament for Hunua and Port Waikato; Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; explorer

Andrew Henry Bayly (born 1962) is a New Zealand entrepreneur, explorer, and political figure. He entered Parliament in the 2014 general election as the representative for Hunua under the New Zealand National Party, and he currently holds the seat for Port Waikato.

During the tenure of the Sixth National Government, Bayly occupied significant ministerial positions including Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Minister of Statistics, and Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing. He stepped down from these roles in February 2025 after an incident involving physical contact with a staff member amid a dispute.

Early life and family

Born in Whanganui, Bayly has a twin brother. He attended Wanganui Collegiate School before obtaining a degree in accounting and finance from Massey University. His professional background includes work as a merchant banker. Bayly holds fellowships with Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, the NZ Institute of Management, the NZ Chartered Institute of Corporate Management, and the UK Chartered Association of Certified Accountants.

In his youth during the 1970s, Bayly accidentally shot his brother in the leg; although seriously injured, his brother survived with significant scarring. Bayly’s military experience includes service as an officer in both the New Zealand Army Territorials and the British Parachute Regiment. Additionally, he is a Fellow of London’s Royal Geographical Society.

He is married and has three children.

Business career

Together with his brother Paul, Bayly co-established Cranleigh, a firm delivering corporate advisory and capital markets services to government bodies, local councils, and private companies. Cranleigh maintains offices across New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore.

Bayly has held directorships at various companies, chaired New Zealand Financial Planning, and acted as a trustee for the Enterprise Franklin Development Trust, which promotes regional economic growth.

He was also on the board of Envirofert, an organic compost enterprise honored with a 2010 “Green Ribbon Award” for its environmental achievements. Envirofert annually processes about 40,000 tonnes of green waste into products such as compost and gypsum.

Adventurer

Bayly is recognized for his extensive adventure racing career, having competed in three Coast to Coast races, marathons, and Ironman triathlons. As an alpinist, he has summited Aoraki / Mount Cook, Mount Aspiring / Tititea, plus four peaks in Antarctica including Vinson Massif, the continent’s tallest mountain. In 2012/13, he pulled a sled over 112 km en route to the South Pole. Later, in 2016, accompanied by one of his children, he traversed 120 km by sled to reach the North Pole, raising $10,000 to support the Kōkako Recovery Programme in the Hunua Ranges.

In January 2019, Bayly embarked on a month-long guided camel expedition spanning 500 km across Jordan with a child. This journey retraced routes associated with Lawrence of Arabia as chronicled in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Traveling alongside Bedouin guides, Bayly verified many of Lawrence’s narratives but questioned his assertion that camels could travel 80 to 120 miles daily. Bayly observed that heavily loaded camels could sustain only 50–80 km per day for limited periods. He documented these findings in an article published in the T. E. Lawrence Society journal (August 2019).

In December 2022, Bayly and a child spent two weeks living with the Dukha people in Mongolia’s northernmost province—one of the few remaining nomadic reindeer herding communities. Their activities included riding reindeer 20–30 km daily, herding livestock, and protecting them from wolves. The expedition aimed to highlight threats posed by climate change to the Dukha’s traditional way of life as shrinking herds jeopardize their nomadic existence. To support an international documentary project on this subject, Bayly engaged both a New Zealand film producer and a Mongolian cameraman to capture their experience.

Government tenure, 2014–2017

Bayly secured a seat in Parliament during the 2014 general election as the National Party MP for Hunua, achieving a commanding majority of 17,376 votes and succeeding the retiring Paul Hutchison. This majority ranked as the fourth largest across the country. Throughout the 51st Parliament, Bayly contributed to multiple committees, including Finance and Expenditure, Transport and Industrial Relations. He also held the position of deputy chair on the Regulations Review Committee and chaired the Local Government and Environment Committee.

In 2016, Bayly introduced a private member's bill aimed at granting landlords authority to test for and remediate methamphetamine contamination in rental properties, thereby ensuring safe living conditions. Although this bill did not progress to introduction, legislation with similar objectives was enacted by the National Government in 2017 and later passed unanimously under the Labour Government in 2019.

Additionally, Bayly successfully navigated the Arbitration Amendment Bill through Parliament, which received unanimous approval and enhanced arbitration processes within New Zealand.

Opposition period, 2017–2023

Bayly retained his Hunua seat with a majority of 19,443 votes in the 2017 general election. Despite National's overall loss, he undertook several spokesperson roles under four different party leaders, covering portfolios such as building regulation, revenue, commerce, and state-owned enterprises. Between 2017 and 2020, he also served as associate finance spokesperson and was an active member of the Finance and Expenditure Committee.

In September 2019, Bayly was removed from Parliament after attempting to interrupt proceedings during his questioning of Housing Minister Megan Woods regarding the Ihumātao dispute.

For the 2020 election, Bayly contested and won the newly established Port Waikato electorate—created from segments of Hunua and Waikato—with a margin of 4,313 votes.

Recognised as a close confidant of National leader Judith Collins, Bayly experienced a significant promotion in November 2020 when Collins elevated him from relative obscurity to third place in the shadow cabinet. He assumed roles as shadow treasurer and spokesperson for infrastructure and statistics. His expanded portfolio encompassed revenue policy, budget formulation, monetary policy, KiwiSaver, and oversight of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. Nevertheless, he encountered criticism for lacking visibility and effectiveness in these capacities.

On 10 November 2021, the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income (Fair Residency) Amendment Bill was passed. Initially introduced by former New Zealand First MP Mark Patterson, it was later adopted as a member’s bill under Bayly’s name. The legislation extended residency requirements for older migrants and returning New Zealanders who had spent extended periods abroad.

Following Christopher Luxon's ascension to party leadership in November 2021 and a subsequent reshuffle in December, Bayly was reassigned to 15th rank with responsibilities including revenue, small business, commerce and consumer affairs, building and construction, as well as manufacturing.

Government return, 2023–present

Bayly stood for election in the Port Waikato electorate during the October 2023 general election, but the electorate vote was deferred to a by-election in November due to the death of a candidate. Despite this, he secured a seat as a list MP. Subsequently, Bayly claimed victory in the by-election with a lead of 11,432 votes over New Zealand First contender Casey Costello.

During the tenure of the Sixth National Government, which was established while the by-election was pending, Bayly was appointed as a minister outside Cabinet. His portfolios included oversight of commerce and consumer affairs, statistics, and small business and manufacturing.

In October 2024, Bayly issued an apology after an incident where he told an export sector employee to "take some wine and fuck off," also referring to him as a "loser." The employee lodged a formal complaint regarding the exchange. Bayly admitted that his conduct was "unbecoming of a government minister" but denied being under the influence at the time.

Following a cabinet reshuffle on 19 January 2025, Bayly retained responsibility for commerce and took on the role of Minister overseeing the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), while relinquishing his duties related to statistics as well as small business and manufacturing.

In February 2025, Bayly stepped down from his ministerial roles after an "animated discussion" during which he placed his hand on a staff member’s upper arm. He publicly apologized for this action. His commerce and ACC responsibilities were subsequently assigned to National MP Scott Simpson. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon defended how the party managed the situation, whereas Labour leader Chris Hipkins criticised Luxon for his delayed reaction to an earlier bullying allegation in 2024.

On 5 March 2025, Bayly was granted permission to retain the honorific title The Honourable in recognition of his service on the Executive Council. Shortly after, on 10 March, reports emerged that Bayly had taken a two-week leave from Parliament to undertake a trek to the base camp of Mount Everest in Nepal. A spokesperson for National noted that such absences during parliamentary sittings are uncommon and evaluated individually. Bayly resumed his parliamentary duties by the end of March and was appointed chairperson of the Justice committee in April.