Chris Bishop (politician)

Christopher Bishop (born 4 September 1983)[1] is a New Zealand National Party politician 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 returned to Parliament as a National List MP and currently serves as National spokesperson for Covid-19 Response and Shadow Leader of the House.

Chris Bishop
Bishop in 2019
11th Shadow Leader of the House
Assumed office
6 December 2021
LeaderChristopher Luxon
Preceded byMichael Woodhouse
In office
16 July 2020  27 August 2021
LeaderJudith Collins
Preceded byGerry Brownlee
Succeeded byMichael Woodhouse
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for National Party List
Assumed office
17 October 2020
In office
20 September 2014  23 September 2017
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Hutt South
In office
23 September 2017  17 October 2020
Preceded byTrevor Mallard
Succeeded byGinny Andersen
Personal details
Born (1983-09-04) 4 September 1983
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Political partyNational
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] His father is political journalist John Bishop and his mother Rosemary Dixon is an environmental lawyer.[3] He graduated Victoria University of Wellington with first-class honours in Law and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics.[4] 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. Bishop worked as a summer clerk at Russell McVeagh and Crown Law while at university.[3]

Bishop spent a year working as a researcher for the National Party. Then, after the 2008 general election, he worked as a ministerial advisor for Gerry Brownlee for several years. Then he worked as a lobbyist for the tobacco company Philip Morris and as a staffer to Steven Joyce.[5]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
20142017 51st List 49 National
20172020 52nd Hutt South 40 National
2020present 53rd List 7 National

Bishop's work for Philip Morris attracted headlines and comments when he stood for parliament for the National Party, given he worked against the party's plans to increase tobacco excise and introduce plain packaging. On the day of his selection as a candidate he announced that he supported both policies.[6]

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.[7]

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

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

In February 2018 it was disclosed that Bishop was using the social media platform Snapchat to communicate with his constituents including teenage girls.[15][16] Parents of the affected stated that his intentions appeared misguided and not malicious.[17] 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.[17][18] 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".[19]

In March 2020 Bishop went into voluntary isolation for the COVID-19 virus after visiting Australia.[20]

Bishop played a significant role in the May 2020 leadership coup that saw Simon Bridges removed as leader and replaced by Todd Muller,[21] acting as Muller's "numbers man" alongside Nicola Willis.[22] He was subsequently promoted to 12th in caucus with the portfolios of Transport and Infrastructure.[23][24] Muller resigned after 55 days becoming the shortest serving leader of any political party represented in Parliament in New Zealand's history,[25] being replaced by Judith Collins.[26] Bishop was promoted to the front bench as 7th in caucus, retaining his portfolios and gaining "Shadow Leader of the House".[27] With Muller's backers Bishop and Willis rising under Collins, political commentators speculated that "potential dissenters are being kept busy with big new portfolios".[28]

In June 2020, claims were made by Health Minister David Clark that Bishop lobbied for the early release from the 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.[29]

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.[30][31] Despite this loss, Bishop was re-elected to Parliament on the National Party list.[32]

On 28 August 2021, Bishop was stripped by party leader Collins of his Shadow Leader of the House portfolio during a reshuffle of her shadow cabinet. Collins claimed that Bishop was stepping down from the portfolio to focus on his role as the National Party's COVID-19 spokesperson. According to Stuff, Bishop had disagreed with the Party's stance on conversion therapy and pushed for a conscience vote on the proposed Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill.[33] On 30 August, Collins denied losing her temper at Bishop and fellow National MP Erica Stanford for publicly suggesting that they disagreed with the Party's stance on the conversion therapy legislation.[34]

After Collins was deposed as National leader in November 2021, and Christopher Luxon was elected in her place, Bishop was promoted to 4th in the National line up, retaining his COVID-19 Response portfolio in Luxon's Shadow Cabinet, and being reappointed Shadow Leader of the House.[35]

Personal life

Bishop has a Samoyed dog called Ladyhawke, named for Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke.[36]

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.[37][38][39]

References

  1. "About Me". Cjsbstaging.wordpress.com. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  2. "Nats select Bishop". Hutt News. 27 May 2014. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  3. "Christopher Bishop". Victoria.ac.nz. Faculty of Law, Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  4. "MPS Qualifications.XLSX".
  5. National picks another tobacco man Stuff.co.nz, 22 May 2014
  6. Rutherford, Hamish (23 May 2014). "Hutt South candidate downplays his tobacco past". Stuff. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  7. Cheng, Derek (5 September 2014). "Boundary changes put Mallard in danger". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  8. Jones, Nicholas (23 May 2015). "MPs' group to focus on LGBTI people's rights". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  9. "Compensation for Live Organ Donors Act 2016". New Zealand Legislation. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  10. Grant, Damien (30 September 2017). "Insight: How did Chris Bishop snatch Hutt South from Labour's perennial grasp?". stuff.co.nz.
  11. Chang, Derek (14 February 2018). "Amy Adams announces bid for National leadership". The New Zealand Herald.
  12. Hehir, Liam (19 July 2020). "The National Party is not an ideological movement". The Spinoff. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  13. "New National leader Simon Bridges: 'A great privilege'". Radio New Zealand. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  14. Chang, Derek (25 June 2019). "Simon Bridges says reshuffle not a demotion to Judith Collins". The New Zealand Herald.
  15. Steenkamp, Jacques (11 February 2018). "National MP Confronted About his Social Media Messages to Teenagers". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  16. 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.
  17. "Chris Bishop's use of snapchat causes problems". The Standard. 11 February 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  18. "National MP stops communicating with youth on Snapchat". RNZ. 11 February 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  19. "David Seymour: Attacking Chris Bishop over Snapchats is 'man-bashing'". Spreaker. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  20. "National MP Chris Bishop self-isolates after Australia trip". Stuff/Fairfax. 1 March 2020.
  21. 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.
  22. Trevett, Claire (24 May 2020). "Anatomy of a coup: How Todd Muller felled Simon Bridges and who helped him". The New Zealand Herald.
  23. Small, Zane (25 May 2020). "National's Shadow Cabinet: Paula Bennett pushed down ranks, no sign of Simon Bridges". Newshub.
  24. 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.
  25. "New Zealand politics' shortest leaderships". Radio NZ. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  26. Sadler, Rachel (14 July 2020). "Judith Collins announced as new National Party leader". Newshub. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  27. Small, Zane (16 July 2020). "Simon Bridges given senior roles on National's frontbench". Newshub.
  28. Bracewell-Worrall, Anna (16 July 2020). "NZ election 2020: The biggest winners and losers from Judith Collins' National caucus reshuffle". Newshub.
  29. "'A desperate, disgraceful smear': Bishop defends lobbying for Covid pair's exemption". Newstalk ZB. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  30. "Hutt South – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  31. 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.
  32. "2020 General Election and Referendums – Official Result Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  33. Cooke, Henry (28 August 2021). "National Party reshuffle: Judith Collins strips Chris Bishop of key portfolio". Stuff. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  34. Small, Zane (30 August 2021). "Judith Collins denies rumblings in National Party caucus, going 'ballistic' at Chris Bishop". Newshub. Retrieved 30 August 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  35. "National Party leader Christopher Luxon reveals new caucus lineup". Radio New Zealand. 6 December 2021.
  36. "About Chris". New Zealand National Party. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  37. "National MP Chris Bishop rocks new mullet look for charity". NZ Herald. 15 May 2020. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  38. "Covid 19 coronavirus: MP commits to horror hairdo for charity". NZ Herald. 14 May 2020. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  39. "Bishmullet for Good Bitches Baking". Givealittle. Retrieved 3 July 2020..
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