Self-described cricket tragic and Lower Hutt MP Christopher Bishop has been named as the Minister for Sport and Recreation in the new National-lead coalition Government with Act and New Zealand First.
The Cabinet lineup for the new Government was announced yesterday and is highlighted by Winston Peters and David Seymour sharing the role of deputy prime minister for half of the parliamentary term each. The Cabinet of the usual 20 ministers will have 14 from National, and three each from ACT and NZ First. National will have five Ministers outside Cabinet, with two from ACT and one from New Zealand First.
Bishop, who is entering his fourth term as a Member of Parliament, is the co-captain of the Parliamentary cricket team and alongside his sports portfolio is also the Leader of the House, the Housing Minister, Infrastructure Minister, Minister for RMA Reform, and Associate Finance Minister. He was National’s chair for the 2023 Election Campaign.
In the recent election, Bishop won the Hutt South seat with 19,144 votes ahead of Labour’s Ginny Anderson with 17,812. He had been a List MP based in Hutt South during the Labour-led Government and between 2017 and 2020 was the MP for Hutt South, the first time National had ever held the seat.
Born and raised in Lower Hutt, Bishop attended Eastern Hutt School, Hutt Intermediate and Hutt International Boys’ School. He has a first-class Honours degree in Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Victoria University of Wellington and has been admitted to the Bar as a barrister and solicitor.
Before serving as an MP, he worked in behind-the-scenes roles at Parliament, as a researcher for the National Party in opposition, and as an advisor to ministers in the John Key-led Government. He also worked as a corporate affairs manager for Philip Morris New Zealand.
Since National went into Opposition in 2017, Bishop served at various times as National’s spokesperson for Transport, Regional Development, Police, and Youth and was the Shadow Leader of the House from 2020-2023. He has served on a variety of select committees, including Finance and Expenditure, Health, Justice, Regulations Review and Transport and Infrastructure. He chaired the Finance and Expenditure Committee from February to September 2017.
Before entering Parliament, he was a champion university debater and mooter, winning tournaments around the world including at the Cambridge Union, the University of Sydney, as well as in New Zealand. He was the 2006 Young Wellingtonian of the Year.
Bishop and wife Jenna have a son, Jeremy.
Other than cricket, the other great loves of his life are good coffee, good BBQ brisket, red wine, and rock music.
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Luke Kirkness is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He previously covered consumer affairs for the Herald and was an assistant news director in the Bay of Plenty. He won Student Journalist of the Year in 2019.
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