Chris Bishop (politician)


Christopher Bishop is a New Zealand politician and member of the New Zealand National Party who was first elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in 2014 as a list MP before winning the Hutt South electorate in 2017. He currently serves as Shadow Leader of the House and as National spokesperson for Infrastructure and Transport.

Early life

Bishop grew up in Lower Hutt and attended Eastern Hutt School primary, Hutt Intermediate School and Hutt International Boys' School in Upper Hutt. He graduated Victoria University of Wellington with a first class honours in Law and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics. He won 10 intervarsity debating tournaments, including at the Cambridge Union and Sydney Union, and a range of awards for legal argument and oratory. He met his partner, Jenna Raeburn, through the Victoria University Debating Society. His father was a political journalist and his mother was an environmental lawyer.

Political career

Bishop previously was a summer clerk at Russell McVeagh. He has previously worked as a lobbyist for the tobacco company Philip Morris and as a staffer to Steven Joyce. Bishop's work for Philip Morris attracted headlines and comments given he worked against National Party plans to increase tobacco excise and introduce plain packaging. On the day of his selection as a National Party candidate he announced that he supported both policies.

First term: 2014–2017

He contested the Hutt South electorate at the 2014 election, where he placed second behind incumbent Labour MP Trevor Mallard but entered Parliament as a list MP for the 2014–2017 term. Redistribution of electorate boundaries prior to the election saw Hutt South lose the Labour-leaning suburb of Naenae for the National-leaning western hill suburbs, helping Bishop cut Mallard's majority from 4,825 to 709.
Bishop served on the Finance and Expenditure, Justice and Electoral, and Regulations Review select committees. Bishop was also part of a cross-party group initiated by Jan Logie to look at and advocate for LGBTI rights. A member's bill in Bishop's name, the Compensation for Live Organ Donors’ Act 2016, passed the house unanimously. The bill aims to remove a financial deterrent to the donation of organs by live donors.

Second term: 2017–2020

Bishop won the Hutt South electorate at the 2017 New Zealand general election. Long-serving Member of Parliament for Hutt South Trevor Mallard did not contest the election, instead choosing to only appear on the Labour list with the intention of becoming Speaker of the House. Ginny Andersen stood as the Labour candidate. Bishop defeated her by a margin of 1,530 votes. In doing so, Bishop became the first ever National MP for the seat. This result was credited to a 4-year campaign in the area that donned him the title "Mr Everywhere Man".
The formation of the Sixth Labour Government saw Bishop serve in Opposition. Following Bill English's resignation in February 2018, Bishop publicly endorsed Amy Adams for Leader of the National Party. Adams represented the more liberal wing of the National Party. Adams lost the leadership vote to Simon Bridges. Bridges promoted Bishop into his shadow cabinet in June 2019, allocating him the portfolios of Transport and Regional Development.
In March 2020 Bishop went into voluntary isolation for the COVID-19 virus after visiting Australia.
Bishop played a significant role in the leadership coup that saw Simon Bridges removed as leader and replaced by Todd Muller, acting as Muller's "numbers man" alongside Nicola Willis. He was subsequently promoted to 12th in caucus with the portfolios of Transport and Infrastructure. Muller resigned after 55 days becoming the shortest serving leader of any political party represented in Parliament in New Zealand's history, being replaced by Judith Collins. Bishop was promoted to the front bench as 7th in caucus, retaining his portfolios and gaining "Shadow Leader of the House". With Muller's backers Bishop and Willis rising under Collins, political commentators speculated that "potential dissenters are being kept busy with big new portfolios".

Controversies

In February 2018 it was disclosed that Bishop was using the social media platform Snapchat to communicate with his constituents including teenage girls. Parents of the affected stated that his intentions appeared misguided and not malicious. Bishop has since stated that he was running the Snapchat account to help young people become interested in politics and has changed his account so to only allow for communication with his close friends. ACT party leader David Seymour has stated his backing for Bishop, saying that "an MP's job is to engage with the young, which is what Bishop was doing".
In June 2020, claims were made by health minister David Clark that Bishop lobbied for the early release from quarantine of two sisters who later tested positive for COVID-19. Bishop later stated that he only forwarded their concern through the appropriate channels. He also stated they should've been tested before being released.

Personal life

Bishop has a Samoyed called Ladyhawke, named for Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke.
In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, and following the lowering of COVID-19 alert levels, Bishop appeared in parliament with a mullet, nicknamed the 'Bishmullet'. He states he did it to raise money for a local charity Good Bitches Baking, raising $10,000 for the charity through online donations.