Chris Bishop (politician)

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]

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]

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 was part of a cross-party group initiated by Jan Logie to look at and advocate for LGBTI rights. That group consisted of Catherine Delahunty (Green), Chris Bishop (National), David Seymour (Act), Denis O'Rouke (NZ First), Denise Roche (Green), James Shaw (Green), Jan Logie (Green), Kevin Hague (Green), Louisa Wall (Labour), Nanaia Mahuta (Labour), Paul Foster-Bell (National), and Trevor Mallard (Labour).[8]

Bishop was re-elected at the 2017 New Zealand general election, winning the Hutt South electorate. 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".[9] Following Bill English's resignation, he publicly endorsed Amy Adams as Leader of the National Party,[10] who ultimately placed runner-up behind Simon Bridges.[11] Bridges promoted Bishop into his shadow cabinet in June 2019, allocating him the portfolios of Transport and Regional Development.[12] In March 2020 Bishop went into voluntary isolation for the COVID-19 virus after visiting Australia.[13]

Bishop played a significant role in the leadership coup that saw Simon Bridges removed as Leader and replaced by Todd Muller,[14] acting as Muller's "numbers man" alongside Nicola Willis.[15] He was subsequently promoted to 12th in caucus with the portfolios of Transport and Infrastructure.[16][17]

Bishop attracted headlines and comments for his two years working as a lobbyist for tobacco firm Philip Morris. In this role 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.[18]

In February 2018 it was disclosed that Bishop was using the social media platform Snapchat to communicate with his constituents including teenage girls.[19][20] Parents of the effected stated that his intentions appeared misguided and not malicious.[21] 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.[21][22] 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".[23]

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 and states they should've been tested before being released.[24]

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. He states he did it to raise money for a local charity Good Bitches Baking, and took donations online.[25][26]