Chris Hipkins

Hipkins was selected to stand in the Labour-held seat of Rimutaka (renamed Remutaka in 2020) in the 2008 general election, following the retirement of sitting MP Paul Swain. Hipkins won the seat with a majority of 753.[2] Following the election, he was appointed the Labour spokesperson for Internal Affairs.[3] In May 2010, his Electricity (Renewable Preference) Amendment Bill was drawn from the member's ballot.[4] It was defeated at its first reading in June.[4]

The 2011 general election saw Hipkins increase his winning margin in Rimutaka to 3,286.[5] He became the Labour Party's Chief Whip. He also held the State Services and Associate Education spokesperson roles.[6]

In the 2014 general election he increased his majority again to 6,664.[7] In late 2015, Hipkins received veiled threats, including a death threat, for voicing his concerns about a billboard advertising guns.[8] In April 2016, his Education (Charter Schools Abolition) Amendment Bill was drawn from the members' ballot. It was defeated at its first reading in November.[9]

Hipkins at the NZEI strike rally outside Parliament, 15 August 2018

Hipkins was elected as a Cabinet minister by the Labour Party caucus following the formation of a Labour – New Zealand First coalition government supported by the Greens.[10] It was later announced that he would serve as Minister for Education.[11]

As Education Minister, Hipkins has supported the abolition of National Standards and charter schools in New Zealand, which were supported by the previous National Government. He has also signaled a review of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) high school certificate system. However, Hipkins has clarified that the Ministry of Education would continue to fund the University of Otago's National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement and the Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT). The Government's announcement that it would close charter schools drew criticism from the opposition National and ACT parties.[12][13] In early 2018, Hipkins introduced legislation preventing the creation of new charter schools, while enabling existing charter schools to be converted into special character schools.[14] By September 2018, all twelve charter schools had successfully transitioned to become state-integrated and special character schools.[15][16]

In December 2018, Hipkins rejected a recommendation by Victoria University of Wellington's Council to rename the university "University of Wellington", citing the strong opposition to the name change from staff, students, and alumni. In justifying his decision, Hipkins stated "that he was not convinced the university had sufficiently engaged with stakeholders, who should have their views considered."[17][18]

In February 2019, Hipkins proposed merging the country's sixteen polytechnics into a New Zealand Institute of Skills & Technology to counter deficits and declining domestic enrollments. This proposed Institute of Skills and Technology will also take over the country's vocational and apprenticeship programmes. While the Tertiary Education Union, Employers and Manufacturers Union, and the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce have expressed support for the Government's proposal, this has been criticised by the opposition National Party, Southern Institute of Technology CEO Penny Simmonds, and Mayor of Invercargill Tim Shadbolt.[19][20][21][22] In response to the Christchurch mosque shootings, Hipkins extended the polytechnic submission timeframe to 5 April 2019.[23]

In early May 2019, Hipkins announced that the Government would be investing NZ$95 million to train 2,400 new teacher trainees through increased scholarships and placements, new employment-based teacher education programmes, and iwi-based scholarships over the next four years to address the teaching shortage. These measures were criticised as inadequate by the Post Primary Teachers' Association and National Party education spokesperson Nikki Kaye.[24][25][26]

On 1 August 2019, Hipkins reaffirmed the Government's plan merge all polytechnics into a single entity in April 2020.[27] In addition, he announced that the Government would replace all 11 industrial training organisations (ITOs) with between four and seven workforce development councils that would be set up by 2022 to influence vocational education and training. While polytechnics have been cautiously optimistic about the changes despite concerns about losing their autonomy, ITOs and National's tertiary education spokesperson Shane Reti have opposed these changes, claiming they would damage the vocational training system and cause job losses.[28][29][30]

Following the resignation of David Clark as Minister of Health on 2 July 2020, Prime Minister Ardern appointed Hipkins as interim Health Minister until the 2020 New Zealand general election scheduled for October 2020.[31][32]

Hipkins was re-elected to the seat of Remutaka during the 2020 New Zealand general election. He defeated National candidate Mark Crofskey by a final margin of 20,497 votes.[33]

In early November 2020, Hipkins retained his portfolio as Minister of Education. He was also designated as Minister for COVID-19 Response and Minister for the Public Service.[34]