Updated 5.24pm: James Shaw has been announced as the next male Co-Leader of the Green Party.

Mr Shaw paid tribute to his fellow leadership contenders in his victory speech, noting their ideological and personal closeness. 

And he had some words of warning for political opponents too.

Mr Shaw says he believes there was a concerted campaign from the right to undermine him by complimenting him, so now he's looking forward to taking on John Key.

"Well he did say he was looking forward to it this week, so he should be careful what he wishes for."

As Barry Soper reports, he could give the party the fresh look it's after.

"I think what they were looking for was someone who had business savvy, and James Shaw certainly brings that to the table."

He won 54%, while Mr Hague drew 44%.

Mr Hague says he's disappointed, but not surprised.

"I was confident during the campaign, but as it wore on it became clear that James was attracting a lot of support. In the last month it was clear it was a very close race."

Mr Hague is a third term MP, but says that's not always a bonus.

"No doubt for some that may have been a factor. One person's experience is another person's over the hill."

Mr Shaw is seen as more business friendly, and part of an evolution of the Greens towards centrism. 

It's political ground that Labour are currently trying to occupy, and a meeting with Labour leader Andrew Little is a top priority for Mr Shaw.

He took a dig at Labour in his first co-leader speech, saying all contenders agreed at the beginning not to behave like a Labour leadership contest, adding "that's not a high bar".

But speaking to media, he says he's still keen to work with the party.

"If you look at what happened at the last election, our highest polling point was also Labour's highest polling point, and that was when we launched the NZ Power initiative. We looked like a credible alternative government."

He'll be working with fellow co-leader Metiria Turei, who says he'll have his work cut out for him.

"Life is pretty much over as he knows it. It's a hard job."

Leadership race

Contenders for the Green Party co-leadership made their final pitches before a delegate vote decided who came out on top.

MPs Gareth Hughes, Kevin Hague, James Shaw, and outsider Vernon Tava were all in the running, though pundits are all pointing towards a showdown between Hague and Shaw.

They all vied to replace outgoing co-leader Russel Norman. He announced his resignation in January this year citing family reasons. Norman and Metiria Turei led the party to 10% of the vote in the 2014 Election.

As a former employee of HSBC and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the first-term MP James Shaw was seen as having the biggest business cred, but is only hinting at that as the reason to vote for him.

"My main pitch is that I've got broad electoral appeal, and that I can help expand our vote," he said.

"It's neck and neck. What we know about the decisions that have been made so far is that it's a very close race."

Hague on the other hand - a third-term MP - is eyeing the status quo and believes he can keep the Green Party on its current path.

"I think I'm the best person to do it," he said. "My values are the values of the Green Party and I want to lead this party into government."

"I'm not predicting how it's going to go...I think I have a slight edge, but who knows."

Gareth Hughes has youth on his side, though the 33-year-old admitted he was the underdog, but is still in with a chance.

"Half of our vote comes from under forty year olds at the moment, it was the only age group to actually increase its for us last time. It's a big part of our support and I'd like to focus on that."

"I think I've got a chance," he said. "I wouldn't describe it as [being] out in front. I've been the underdog throughout the whole campaign, but I'm really proud of the effort I've put in."

Waitematā Local Board councillor Vernon Tava all but bowed out at the last minute, endorsing James Shaw.

"What we're looking at is a close race between Kevin Hague and James Shaw, those are all the indications that we're receiving from the delegates," he said.

"If we're actually going to reach people who we aren't already reaching, I think James Shaw is the most likely candidate for that."

Russel Norman had his last day as co-leader yesterday after nine years at the helm, saying he was "pleased I've made the change. I'm pretty happy with what I've done but I'm also happy with moving on as co-leader."

James Shaw bio

42-year-old James Peter Edward Shaw was born in Wellington, and attended Wellington High School and Victoria University of Wellington.

He lived in London for 12 years, before returning to New Zealand in 2010.

He completed an MSc in sustainability and business leadership at the University of Bath School of Business in 2005.

Prior to returning to Wellington Mr Shaw worked for consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Between 2011 and 2014, he worked as a consultant for HSBC bank on environmental awareness programmes for future leaders and also at Wellington social enterprise the Akina Foundation.