James Shaw: A pragmatic leader who fought for the climate

A leftist, but a leftist you could do business with

Photo by Einar Storsul on Unsplash

James Shaw has resigned as co-leader of the Green Party. As the climate change minister in the Labour-led government from 2017 to 2023, Shaw was instrumental in passing landmark legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And he did so having won cross-partisan support for the reform.

None of this should have been taken to doubt Shaw’s leftwing bona fides. While his cooperation with Labour and National often drew fire from his own party, who accused him of selling out, the idea that he is some kind of conservative Green was always laughable.

James Shaw is a leftist. It just happens to be that he is a leftist that you can do business with.

In particular, his leadership instead demonstrated three things:

1. Holding strong views does not preclude one from gaining widespread respect.

2. You can achieve meaningful progress through good faith negotiation with adversaries.

3. That the people who ostensibly share your goals will never forgive you these things.

The attributes that defined Shaw's tenure - principled conviction, cross-party collaboration and a capacity for constructive compromise - seem to be less in demand. That is to the detriment of the Green Party and to politics in this country as a whole.

James Shaw showed his usual grace while resigning.

There’s no sarcasm in that statement. Through his tenure as co-leader, Shaw showed more restraint and discipline than almost anybody else in politics. Time and time again he were let down by colleagues and never did he let any bitterness show as he stood by them.

So it is not surprising that Shaw's statement today was devoid of any bitterness or resentment. No personal grievances or disappointments were aired. He has clearly decided to bow out as he led.

The Green Party stands at an inflection point. Do they try to salvage the tradition of civil, constructive engagement as an element of their party’s way of doing things? Or do they double down on the more in-your-face approach to politics that puts insulting centrist voters at the core of what the party is about?