Brian Connell

Brian David Connell (born 23 April 1956) was a New Zealand politician who represented the New Zealand National Party in the New Zealand Parliament from 2002 to 2008.

Born in Foxton in the Manawatu region, Connell studied history and geography at Massey University. He also gained a diploma in teaching. He worked as a primary-school teacher for a time, then as a secondary-school teacher, before moving to Australia, where he became a manager at a banking company in Victoria. After holding a number of management and consultancy positions, he returned to New Zealand and took up farming.

The voters of the Rakaia electorate put Connell in Parliament in the 2002 election, replacing the retiring former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley as the local National Party candidate. Connell served on the Law and Order and Commerce select committees.

Following Connell's re-election in the 2005 election, National Party parliamentary leader Don Brash ranked him 27th in the National party caucus of 48 MPs, giving him the portfolios of forestry, commerce, consumer affairs and statistics. Although this gave him a higher position than his previous unranked state, Connell objected to such a lowly rating, saying "I would have liked bigger portfolios and a higher ranking based on my ability, rather than the leader slapping me around because I'm outspoken"; and describing it as a "big rat to swallow". Don Brash responded by removing his portfolios and unranking him, saying Connell no longer had his confidence. On 4 November 2005 Connell threatened to become an independent MP.

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