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, and the minister for health 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Zealand 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.
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.
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.
In the 2017 general election, Hipkins retained the Rimutaka electorate by a margin of 8,609 votes.