Jami-Lee Ross

On 29 January 2020 the Serious Fraud Office announced they had charged four people in relation to the claims made by Ross in 2018 around the $100,000 donation. None of the sitting National Party MPs at the time, including Simon Bridges, were among the four charged. On 19 February 2020, it was reported that Ross was one among four people charged by the SFO over a NZ$105,000 donation made to the National Party in June 2018. The SFO alleged that Ross and the other defendants had committed fraud by splitting the 2018 donation into sums of money less than $15,000, which were then transferred into the bank accounts of eight different people before being donated to the National Party. On 25 February, Ross appeared in court where he pleaded not guilty to the charges relating to the National Party donations.

In early February 2020, the news website Newsroom reported that Ross was under investigation from Parliamentary Service for alleged bullying against staff members at his Botany electorate office, who had been placed on leave. Ross has denied any allegations of wrongdoing and claimed that the allegations levelled against him were part of a "wider, politically-motivated attack."

In April 2020, Ross announced that he would form a new political party, Advance New Zealand.

On 25 January 2019, Sarah Dowie was revealed as the MP Ross had had an affair with. Ross had disclosed this in October 2018, but the news media chose not to name her at the time. After it was learned that a police investigation had been launched into a text message allegedly sent by Dowie to Ross, media revealed her identity. If the message is found to breach the Harmful Digital Communications Act, it is punishable by up to three years in prison. On 31 July 2019, the Police declined to pursue charges against Dowie. Ross responded that he welcomed the conclusion of the inquiries, stating "this has been a traumatic time for many people. I am glad it is now behind us all."

On 12 March 2019, it was reported that the New Zealand Police had referred Ross' complaint about Bridges' disclosure of political donations to the Serious Fraud Office. Bridges has denied any wrongdoing and asserted that it is a National Party matter.

In early March 2019, Jami-Lee Ross called for new regulations on foreign donations to political parties. Ross' statement was made in response to a Parliamentary hearing on alleged foreign interference in the 2017 New Zealand general election.

Elected as a member of the National Party, Ross resigned from the party's caucus on 16 October 2018 after he accused National leader Simon Bridges of corruption. Ross has been accused of harassment and bullying behaviour toward staff.

On 2 October 2018, Ross issued a statement that he was standing down from his portfolios and from the front bench of the Opposition due to personal health issues. His transport portfolio was picked up by Paul Goldsmith, and Judith Collins took over his infrastructure portfolio.

On 15 October 2018, National Leader Simon Bridges stated that Ross had been identified as the National Party leaker after the party's inquiry into the leaking of Bridges' travel expenses. Bridges said the inquiry report identified Ross as the most likely source of the leak, and he accepted that finding. Ross denied the accusations and issued a series of tweets prior to the press conference alleging that Bridges had attempted to silence him for speaking out against his leadership decisions, including an election donation that allegedly broke the law. Bridges also indicated that National would seek disciplinary action against Ross.

Ross served as one of the National Party's whips in Parliament. He was appointed Third Whip in 2013, was promoted to Junior Whip after the 2014 election, and elected as Senior Whip after the incumbent Tim Macindoe was appointed as Minister of Customs in May 2017. Ross contested the Botany seat during the 2017 election and was re-elected again.

On 19 October, Katrina Bungard, the National candidate for Manurewa, identified herself as one of the four women who had allegedly been harassed by Ross. She praised the way that National had dealt with the complaints and the other women for coming forward with the allegations. Ross indicated that he was seeking legal options. Later that day in an interview with Newstalk ZB journalist Heather Du Plessis Allan, Ross admitted to past extramarital affairs with two women – including a married MP. He also announced that he would not resign his seat in Parliament. He currently continues to represent the Botany electorate as an independent MP.

Ross was brought up by his grandmother as his mother was "not in the best space to raise a child", and he has never met his father, who descends from the Māori iwi of Ngāti Porou. He attended Dilworth School, a boarding school for pupils from difficult backgrounds, then Pakuranga College, but left without formal qualifications. He holds a commercial pilot's licence from April 2012, having trained at Ardmore Flying School. He has also studied towards a politics and economics degree at the University of Auckland.

He stood for a place on the new Auckland Council in the 2010 Auckland local elections, winning a seat for the Howick ward. He was subsequently elected co-leader of the Citizens & Ratepayers ticket. He resigned from the Council on 7 March 2011, after being elected to Parliament.

On 27 January 2011, the National Party selected Ross as their candidate for the Botany by-election to be held on 5 March 2011, to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Pansy Wong. He won the election with a majority of 3,972. Upon his swearing into Parliament Ross became the youngest Member of Parliament, taking the title of Baby of the House from Gareth Hughes, a Green Party MP. Ross was re-elected as MP for Botany in the November 2011 election and 2014 election.

Ross joined the National Party in 2003. He was elected to the Manukau City Council in 2004, aged 18, and worked as an electorate secretary in Pakuranga for MP Maurice Williamson.

Jami-Lee Matenga Ross (born 10 December 1985) is a New Zealand independent politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Botany electorate in Auckland since the March 2011 Botany by-election, when he became the youngest MP at the time. He was previously a local government politician on the Auckland Council and, before that, was on the Manukau City Council from the age of 18.