Hilary Barry has been announced as the new Seven Sharp host, while Hayley Holt quit the Green Party to take on a role with Breakfast.

Former Green Party candidate Hayley Holt will replace Breakfast host Hilary Barry as the broadcaster moves to Seven Sharp.

TVNZ on Monday announced half of its new Seven Sharp lineup, confirming speculation that Barry would move to the programme. A major shake up at TVNZ was triggered when former Seven Sharp hosts Mike Hosking and Toni Street resigned at the end of last year.

Holt, who stood for the Green Party in the 2017 election, would work alongside Jack Tame with newsreader Daniel Faitaua and weather man Matt McLean.

CALLUM MCGILLIVRAY/STUFF Former Helensville electorate Green Party candidate Hayley Holt.

Via a statement, Holt said she had resigned from the Green Party Council and was no longer a party member.

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"When I was representing the Green Party, I was 100% true to their message. In this new role I have the opportunity to look at things from all perspectives and I'm quite happy to play the role of devil's advocate for any political party," she said.

MONIQUE FORD/STUFF Back Benches hosts Wallace Chapman and Hayley Holt in 2016.

A TVNZ spokesperson said Holt, like her predecessor, would interview politicians and was expected to remain objective.

"She is aware we do have political figures on the show so she needs to position herself in this way," spokeswoman Rachel Howard said.

TVNZ news boss John Gillespie said he expected Seven Sharp to be back on air on February 5.

SUPPLIED Hilary Barry will co-host Seven Sharp, TVNZ has confirmed.

Green Party leader James Shaw tweeted shortly after the announcement to congratulate Holt. "I'll look forward to seeing you in the studio sometime - don't pull any punches," he said.

Holt represented New Zealand as a snowboarder before working on sports show The Crowd Goes Wild on Prime. In 2016, she had her first stint with political broadcasting co-hosting Prime's Back Benches show alongside Wallace Chapman.

She went on to stand for the Green Party, attaining the 17th list position and running in John Key's former Helensville electorate. The party did not win enough seats for Holt to enter Parliament.

TVNZ said Barry would be joined by a co-presenter. Her co-presenter was yet to be named.

Sam Wallace, a former Breakfast weatherman who was mooted as a likely replacement for Hosking, said he hadn't been given the job yet - but understood a decision hadn't been finalised.

"Isn't it a single head job, surely Hilary can do it on her own," he said on Monday, before conceding he knew a second role was vacant.

Wallace wouldn't say much more, staying coy when asked if he had been talking with TVNZ about taking a seat next to Barry. "I can't say anymore," he said when asked about discussion about the job. "You can speculate all you want."

He added that he saw himself more like "Robin rather than Batman".

The Seven Sharp team was yet to return to work, with a spokeswoman saying some of the team was still on holiday, while their competitors at Three were due to be back on air Monday night.

She said conversation about who would co-host with barry was still ongoing.

Reaction to the announcement has been mixed, with viewers sharing their thoughts on social media.

I might actually have something to watch at 7 pm now! Congrats on the #sevensharp gig, @Hilary_Barry — Kiwi Kali (@kiwi_kali) January 14, 2018

There goes seven sharp down the drain — Deb (@Debbieinnz) January 14, 2018

Great move putting @Hilary_Barry on @SevenSharp - but forget a co-presenter! She is more than capable of flying solo!! — anna thomas (@annathomas2020) January 14, 2018

Hosking and Street announced on their second to last show of the year they were to leave.

"We came here four years ago, and they rang us up and they said: 'We've got a few problems on this particular programme' ... It had some difficulty and the challenge was to turn this show around and get an audience and rebuild it and send it on its way," he said.