Jonathan Mark Naylor (born 1966), commonly known as Jono Naylor, is a New Zealand politician from Palmerston North. He was Mayor of Palmerston North from

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

until 2014, when he was elected to the House of Representatives in the as a list MP for the National Party. He did not stand for re-election as an MP in 2017. In 2018 he was elected to Horizons Regional Council in the by-election following the death of Councillor Pat Kelly. He was re-elected to Horizons in the 2019 local election and was appointed as Horizons deputy chair.

Early life

Naylor was born in Upper Hutt and raised in Wellington, Auckland, and

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...

before moving to Palmerston North to study at

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

in 1985. In 1997, he earned a Bachelor of Social Work. He is married with three children.

Political career

Naylor became a member of the city council in 2001 and was elected mayor in 2007, defeating incumbent

Heather Tanguay Heather Leigh Tanguay (née Black; born 17 September 1944) is a New Zealand politician who served for twelve years on the Palmerston North City Council, being Mayor of Palmerston North, Mayor from 2004 to 2007. She takes a leading role in the c ...

. Naylor sought the nomination of the National Party for candidacy in the electorate for the and was the sole nominee. He promised to resign as mayor if elected to Parliament. Naylor was beaten in the election by the incumbent, Labour's

Iain Lees-Galloway Iain Francis Lees-Galloway (born 18 September 1978), initially Iain Galloway, is a New Zealand former politician. He represented the Palmerston North electorate in Parliament for the Labour Party. He was the Minister for Workplace Relations, Im ...

. Naylor was in 51st place on National's party list, and based on preliminary results, he was returned as a list MP, but this was not certain as the counting of special votes might have changed the number of List MPs elected for National. He declined to resign as long as his election as an MP was not guaranteed, with final results of the election being published on 4 October. This caused some protest, as he was meanwhile drawing two salaries. The delay in decision making also meant that a by-election for mayor could not be held before year's end, and would thus be held during February, with campaigning falling into the main holiday period; Lees-Galloway suggested that Naylor should meanwhile donate one of his salaries. When the final results did come out, Naylor's election was confirmed, but he was now the lowest-ranked National MP, with Maureen Pugh in 52nd place having lost her place in Parliament. Naylor announced that his resignation as mayor is to follow shortly. Grant Smith was elected in his place in February 2015. He announced in late 2016 that he would not seek re-election at the 2017 general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naylor, Jono 1966 births Living people People from Upper Hutt Massey University alumni Mayors of Palmerston North New Zealand National Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand list MPs 21st-century New Zealand politicians