1. Christopher Bishop was born on 4 September 1983 and is a New Zealand politician for the National Party.
34 Facts About Chris Bishop
1. 2.
Chris Bishop was first elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in 2014 as a list MP.
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Chris Bishop returned to Parliament as a National list MP and served as National spokesperson for Housing and Infrastructure and was the Shadow Leader of the House.
4.
Chris Bishop was the Chairperson of National's 2023 Election Campaign.
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Chris Bishop is a former lobbyist for tobacco company Phillip Morris.
6.
Chris Bishop grew up in Lower Hutt and attended Hutt Intermediate School and Hutt International Boys' School in Upper Hutt.
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Chris Bishop's father, John Bishop, was a political journalist and founder of the Atlas Network affiliated New Zealand Taxpayers' Union.
8.
Chris Bishop graduated Victoria University of Wellington with first-class honours in Law and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics.
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Chris Bishop met his partner, Jenna Raeburn, through the Victoria University Debating Society.
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Chris Bishop worked as a summer clerk at Russell McVeagh and Crown Law while at university.
11.
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 Chris Bishop cut Mallard's majority from 4,825 to 709.
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Chris Bishop served on the Finance and Expenditure, Justice and Electoral, and Regulations Review select committees.
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Chris Bishop won the Hutt South electorate at the 2017 New Zealand general election.
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In doing so, Chris Bishop became the first-ever National MP for the seat.
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The formation of the Sixth Labour Government saw Chris Bishop serve in Opposition.
16.
In February 2018 it was disclosed that Chris Bishop was using the social media platform Snapchat to communicate with his constituents including teenage girls.
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Chris 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.
18.
In March 2020 Chris Bishop went into voluntary isolation for the COVID-19 virus after visiting Australia.
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Chris Bishop played a significant role in the May 2020 leadership coup that saw Simon Bridges removed as leader and replaced by Todd Muller, acting as Muller's "numbers man" alongside Nicola Willis.
20.
Chris Bishop was promoted to 12th in caucus with the portfolios of Transport and Infrastructure.
21.
Chris Bishop was promoted to the front bench as 7th in caucus, retaining his portfolios and gaining "Shadow Leader of the House".
22.
In June 2020, claims were made by Health Minister David Clark that Chris Bishop lobbied for the early release from the quarantine of two sisters who later tested positive for COVID-19.
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Chris Bishop later stated that he only forwarded their concern through the appropriate channels.
24.
Chris Bishop stated they should have been tested before being released.
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Chris Bishop again contested the Hutt South electorate in the 2020 New Zealand general election.
26.
Chris Bishop lost the seat to Labour MP Ginny Andersen by a final margin of 3,777 votes.
27.
On 28 August 2021, Chris Bishop was stripped by party leader Collins of his Shadow Leader of the House portfolio during a reshuffle of her shadow cabinet.
28.
Collins claimed that Chris Bishop was stepping down from the portfolio to focus on his role as the National Party's COVID-19 spokesperson.
29.
On 19 January 2023, Chris Bishop became the National Party's urban development and Resource Management Act Reform spokesperson following a reshuffle of Luxon's Shadow Cabinet.
30.
In early November 2023, Chris Bishop attracted media attention after emailing a forceful email condemning Hamas' actions during the 2023 Gaza war.
31.
On 20 September, Chris Bishop announced that the Resource Management Act 1991 would be replaced by two laws: the first would address the environmental impact of building and development activities while the second would enable urban development and infrastructure.
32.
On 19 January 2025, Chris Bishop was appointed as Minister of Transport during a cabinet reshuffle.
33.
Chris Bishop has a son born in June 2022 with his wife, Jenna Raeburn.
34.
In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, and following the lowering of COVID-19 alert levels, Chris Bishop appeared in parliament with a mullet, nicknamed the 'Bishmullet'.