Christopher John Hipkins (born 5 September 1978) is a New Zealand politician who has served as leader of the New Zealand Labour Party since January 2023 and leader of the Opposition since November 2023. He was the 41st prime minister of New Zealand from January to November 2023, previously serving as the minister for the public service and minister for education from 2017 to 2023, the minister for health for several months in 2020, and the COVID-19 response from 2020 to 2022. He has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Remutaka since the 2008 general election.
Hipkins was born and raised in the Hutt Valley in Wellington. He was heavily involved in student politics while at Victoria University of Wellington and was elected president of VUWSA twice, in 2000 and 2001. He stood for the typically safe Labour seat of Remutaka in the Hutt Valley in 2008 and won it, albeit by a small margin due to an increased vote for the National Party across the country. After Jacinda Ardern led Labour to victory in the 2017 general election, Hipkins assumed multiple portfolios within the Sixth Labour Government, serving variously as minister of education, police, the public service, and leader of the House. For his perceived competence within multiple roles and responsibilities, he became regarded as Labour's "fixer".
As minister of health, Hipkins was responsible for the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. The elimination policy became the primary focus of the 2020 election, helping Labour win in a landslide. After the victory, Hipkins took on more responsibility, serving as minister for COVID-19 response from November 2020 to June 2022.
After Ardern announced her resignation as leader of the Labour Party, Hipkins was elected unopposed, and consequently became prime minister on 25 January 2023. His premiership was faced almost immediately with the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods, and then by further flooding from Cyclone Gabrielle. He led his party into the 2023 general election, with Labour losing to National. He became Opposition leader on 27 November 2023.
Early life Christopher John Hipkins was born in the Hutt Valley on 5 September 1978, the son of Doug and Rosemary Hipkins. His mother is the chief researcher for the New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
Hipkins attended Waterloo Primary School in Lower Hutt and Hutt Intermediate School. He was head boy at Hutt Valley Memorial College (later known as Petone College) in 1996. He studied at the Victoria University of Wellington, where he was student president in 2000 and 2001.
In September 1997, as a first-year student at Victoria University, Hipkins was one of dozens arrested while protesting against the Tertiary Review Green Bill at Parliament. The matter went through the courts, and 10 years later an apology and award of over $200,000 was shared among the 41 protesters. The judge ruled that despite claims by police that the protestors were violent, the protest was peaceful and there were no grounds for arrest.
Hipkins received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in political science and criminology from Victoria University of Wellington. He then worked as a policy advisor for the Industry Training Federation and as a training manager for Todd Energy in Taranaki. Hipkins also worked in Parliament as an advisor to Trevor Mallard and Helen Clark.
In Opposition, 2008–2017
Standing for parliament (2008) 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 the sitting MP Paul Swain. He contested the Labour Party selection over trade unionist Paul Chalmers, who had Swain's support. His selection was part of Prime Minister Helen Clark's intention to rejuvenate the party, with 29-year-old Hipkins winning against the 54-year-old Chalmers. In his first election, Hipkins won the seat with a modest majority of 753.
First term (2008–2011) For the first nine years of Hipkins's parliamentary career, Labour was the Official Opposition. Hipkins's maiden speech set out his interest in education policy. In his first term, Hipkins was the Labour spokesperson for internal affairs and a member of parliamentary committees for government administration, local government and environment, and transport and infrastructure.
In May 2010, his Electricity (Renewable Preference) Amendment Bill was drawn from the member's ballot. The bill would have reinstated a ban on the thermal generation of electricity, which had been imposed by the previous Labour Government in September 2008 before being repealed by the incoming National Government in December 2008, but was defeated at its first reading in June.
Second term (2011–2014) In the 2011 general election, Hipkins retained the Rimutaka electorate by an increased margin of 3,286 votes.
In his second term, Hipkins was promoted into Labour's shadow Cabinet as spokesperson for state services and education under new leader David Shearer. He also became the Labour Party's chief whip for the first time. As education spokesperson, Hipkins was outspoken in his opposition to the National Government's implementation of charter schools in New ZealandHipkins, Chris (14 October 2015). Education (Charter Schools Curriculum) Amendment Bill . Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Volume:709; Page:7224. Retrieved 22 January 2023. and closure of schools in Christchurch following the destructive 2011 earthquake. Hipkins continued as education spokesperson under Shearer's successor, David Cunliffe.
In April 2013, Hipkins voted in favour of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, which legalised same-sex marriage in New Zealand.
Third term (2014–2017) In the 2014 general election, Hipkins retained Rimutaka by a margin of 6,664 votes. In his third term, Hipkins continued as education spokesperson and additionally served as shadow leader of the House under leaders Andrew Little and Ardern. In late 2015, Hipkins received veiled threats, including a death threat, for voicing his concerns about a billboard advertising "cut-price" guns. In April 2016, his Education (Charter Schools Abolition) Amendment Bill was drawn from the members' ballot, but was defeated at its first reading in November.
In Government (2017–2023) As a senior Labour MP, Hipkins was a key figure in the Sixth Labour Government. Between 2017 and 2023, he was the sixth-ranked Government minister from the Labour Party and he was assigned responsibilities as minister of education, minister for the public service and leader of the House. He was later looked upon as a "fixer," and was given additional responsibility as minister of health and minister for COVID-19 response during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, and later as minister of police during a spate of ram raids.
Fourth term (2017–2020) In the 2017 general election, Hipkins retained the Rimutaka electorate by a margin of 8,609 votes.
Labour formed a coalition government with New Zealand First, with confidence and supply support from the Greens. Hipkins was appointed a Cabinet minister and given the education portfolio.
As education minister, Hipkins supported the abolition of National Standards and charter schools in New Zealand, which were supported by the previous National Government. He signalled a review of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) high school certificate system. However, Hipkins 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. 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. By September 2018, all twelve charter schools had successfully transitioned to become state-integrated and special character schools.
In December 2018, Hipkins rejected a recommendation by the Council of Victoria University of Wellington to rename the university "University of Wellington", citing the strong opposition to the name change from staff, students, and alumni. Hipkins said that "he was not convinced the university had sufficiently engaged with stakeholders, who should have their views considered."
In February 2019, Hipkins proposed merging the country's 16 polytechnics into a New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology to counter deficits and declining domestic enrolments. The proposed institute would 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 expressed support for the Government's proposal, it was criticised by the opposition National Party, Southern Institute of Technology CEO Penny Simmonds, and Mayor of Invercargill Tim Shadbolt. In response to the Christchurch mosque shootings, Hipkins extended the polytechnic submission timeframe to 5 April 2019.
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.
On 1 August 2019, Hipkins reaffirmed the Government's plan to merge all polytechnics into a single entity in April 2020. 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 were cautiously optimistic about the changes despite concerns about losing their autonomy, ITOs and National's tertiary education spokesperson Shane Reti opposed the changes, claiming they would damage the vocational training system and cause job losses. By 2022, the merger began to strike difficulties including low enrolments, large deficits and resignations of senior staff.
Following the resignation of David Clark as minister of health on 2 July 2020, Prime Minister Ardern appointed Hipkins as interim health minister, serving until the October 2020 general election.
Fifth term (2020–2023) Hipkins retained his seat, now known as Remutaka, during the 2020 general election, with a total of 20,497 votes.
He retained the education portfolio and also became the minister for COVID-19 response and minister for the Public Service. As Minister of COVID-19 response, Hipkins instituted the wearing of face masks on public transportation and domestic flights in November 2020, pre-departure test requirements for overseas travellers in January 2021, border restrictions for high risk countries in April 2021, and alert level restrictions in Auckland in August 2021 in response to the COVID-19 Delta variant. He oversaw the launch of the Government's "My Vaccine Pass" vaccine certificate in November 2021, the national vaccination rollout, and the passage of the COVID-19 Response (Vaccinations) Legislation Act 2021, which provided the legal framework for the Government's vaccine mandate.
On 22 August 2021, Hipkins made a comment that attracted controversy and humour when he misspoke during a press conference; encouraging New Zealanders to get tested for COVID-19, he inadvertently urged New Zealanders to socially distance when they go outside to "spread their legs". Commentators suggested that he meant to say, "stretch your legs."