Chris Bishop (politician)

Christopher Bishop (born 4 September 1983)[1] 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. Bishop won the Hutt South electorate in 2017 but lost the seat in 2020. He returns to Parliament as a National List MP and currently serves as Shadow Leader of the House and as National spokesperson for Covid-19 Response.

Chris Bishop

MP
Bishop in 2019
Shadow Leader of the House
Assumed office
16 July 2020
LeaderJudith Collins
Preceded byGerry Brownlee
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Hutt South
In office
23 September 2017 – 17 October 2020
Preceded byTrevor Mallard
Succeeded byGinny Andersen
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for National Party List
Assumed office
17 October 2020
In office
20 September 2014 – 23 September 2017
Personal details
Born (1983-09-04) 4 September 1983
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Political partyNational Party
Spouse(s)Jenna Raeburn
Alma materVictoria University of Wellington

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.[2] He graduated Victoria University of Wellington with a first class honours in Law and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics.[3] 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.[4]

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2014–2017 51st List 49 National
2017–2020 52nd Hutt South 40 National
2020–present 53rd List 7 National

Bishop previously was a summer clerk at Russell McVeagh.[5] He has previously worked as a lobbyist for the tobacco company Philip Morris and as a staffer to Steven Joyce.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9] A member's bill in Bishop's name, the Compensation for Live Organ Donors’ Act 2016, passed the house unanimously.[10] 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".[11]

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.[12] Adams represented the more liberal wing of the National Party.[13] Adams lost the leadership vote to Simon Bridges.[14] Bridges promoted Bishop into his shadow cabinet in June 2019, allocating him the portfolios of Transport and Regional Development.[15]

In March 2020 Bishop went into voluntary isolation for the COVID-19 virus after visiting Australia.[16]

Bishop played a significant role in the leadership coup that saw Simon Bridges removed as leader and replaced by Todd Muller,[17] acting as Muller's "numbers man" alongside Nicola Willis.[18] He was subsequently promoted to 12th in caucus with the portfolios of Transport and Infrastructure.[19][20] Muller resigned after 55 days becoming the shortest serving leader of any political party represented in Parliament in New Zealand's history,[21] being replaced by Judith Collins.[22] Bishop was promoted to the front bench as 7th in caucus, retaining his portfolios and gaining "Shadow Leader of the House".[23] With Muller's backers Bishop and Willis rising under Collins, political commentators speculated that "potential dissenters are being kept busy with big new portfolios".[24]

Third term: 2020–present

Bishop again contested the Hutt South electorate in the 2020 New Zealand general election. He lost the seat to Labour MP Ginny Andersen by a final margin of 3,777 votes.[25][26] Despite this loss, Bishop was re-elected to Parliament on the National Party list.[27]

Controversies

In February 2018 it was disclosed that Bishop was using the social media platform Snapchat to communicate with his constituents including teenage girls.[28][29] Parents of the affected stated that his intentions appeared misguided and not malicious.[30] 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.[30][31] 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".[32]

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 have been tested before being released.[33]

Personal life

Bishop has a Samoyed called Ladyhawke, named for Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke.[34]

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.[35][36][37]

References
  1. "About Me". Cjsbstaging.wordpress.com. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  2. "Nats select Bishop". Hutt News. 27 May 2014.
  3. "MPS Qualifications.XLSX".
  4. "Christopher Bishop | Faculty of Law | Victoria University of Wellington".
  5. "Christopher Bishop | Faculty of Law | Victoria University of Wellington". Victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  6. National picks another tobacco man Stuff.co.nz, 22 May 2014
  7. Rutherford, Hamish (23 May 2014). "Hutt South candidate downplays his tobacco past". Stuff. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  8. Cheng, Derek (5 September 2014). "Boundary changes put Mallard in danger". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  9. Jones, Nicholas (23 May 2015). "MPs' group to focus on LGBTI people's rights". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  10. "Compensation for Live Organ Donors Act 2016". New Zealand Legislation. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  11. Grant, Damien (30 September 2017). "Insight: How did Chris Bishop snatch Hutt South from Labour's perennial grasp?". stuff.co.nz.
  12. Chang, Derek (14 February 2018). "Amy Adams announces bid for National leadership". The New Zealand Herald.
  13. Hehir, Liam. "The National Party is not an ideological movement". The Spinoff. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  14. "New National leader Simon Bridges: 'A great privilege'". Radio New Zealand. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  15. Chang, Derek (25 June 2019). "Simon Bridges says reshuffle not a demotion to Judith Collins". The New Zealand Herald.
  16. "National MP Chris Bishop self-isolates after Australia trip". Stuff/Fairfax. 1 March 2020.
  17. Trevett, Claire (20 May 2020). "National Party leader Simon Bridges expected to face no-confidence vote, how the week will shake down". The New Zealand Herald.
  18. Trevett, Claire (24 May 2020). "Anatomy of a coup: How Todd Muller felled Simon Bridges and who helped him". The New Zealand Herald.
  19. Small, Zane (25 May 2020). "National's Shadow Cabinet: Paula Bennett pushed down ranks, no sign of Simon Bridges". Newshub.
  20. Gillespie, Kiri (26 May 2020). "'Once a peacock, now a feather duster': Ousted National leader Simon Bridges reveals plans and disappointment". The New Zealand Herald.
  21. "New Zealand politics' shortest leaderships". Radio NZ. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  22. Sadler, Rachel (14 July 2020). "Judith Collins announced as new National Party leader". Newshub. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  23. Small, Zane (16 July 2020). "Simon Bridges given senior roles on National's frontbench". Newshub.
  24. Bracewell-Worrall, Anna (16 July 2020). "NZ election 2020: The biggest winners and losers from Judith Collins' National caucus reshuffle". Newshub.
  25. "Hutt South - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  26. Whyte, Anna (18 October 2020). "Analysis: The winners, losers, new faces and goodbyes of election 2020". 1 News. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  27. "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  28. Steenkamp, Jacques (11 February 2018). "National MP Confronted About his Social Media Messages to Teenagers". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  29. Cheng, Derek (11 February 2018). "National MP Chris Bishop changed Snapchat settings after learning of concerned parents". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  30. "Chris Bishop's use of snapchat causes problems". The Standard. 11 February 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  31. "National MP stops communicating with youth on Snapchat". RNZ. 11 February 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  32. "David Seymour: Attacking Chris Bishop over Snapchats is 'man-bashing'". Spreaker. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  33. "'A desperate, disgraceful smear': Bishop defends lobbying for Covid pair's exemption". Newstalk ZB. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  34. "About Chris". New Zealand National Party. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  35. "National MP Chris Bishop rocks new mullet look for charity". NZ Herald. 15 May 2020. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  36. "Covid 19 coronavirus: MP commits to horror hairdo for charity". NZ Herald. 14 May 2020. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  37. "Bishmullet for Good Bitches Baking". Givealittle. Retrieved 3 July 2020..
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