15 Facts About Teina Bishop

Teina Bishop was born on 11 April 1959 and is a Cook Islands politician, former Cabinet Minister, and leader of the One Cook Islands Movement.

Teina Bishop was first elected to the Parliament as a Cook Islands Party candidate in the 1999 election.

Teina Bishop briefly served as Minister of Education in the Cabinet of Joe Williams before losing the position when Williams lost a confidence vote to Terepai Maoate.

Teina Bishop was re-elected in the 2004 election, and elected Deputy Speaker, a position he held until 2005.

Teina Bishop was re-elected, and spent the next four years in opposition.

The Cook Islands party won the 2010 election and Teina Bishop was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Education, Tourism, and Marine Resources.

Teina Bishop was alleged to have mingled his personal business with his ministerial responsibilities in a complicated business arrangement to sell a fishing license to a Chinese company.

Teina Bishop was reinstated to the Education and Tourism portfolios in January 2014.

Teina Bishop resigned again in April 2014, the day after the 2014 election was called, after a dispute over whether to dissolve Parliament.

Teina Bishop subsequently established the One Cook Islands Movement to contest the elections, and was re-elected.

The coalition was dissolved in December after a court ruled that Teina Bishop should stand trial, but in March 2016 he was elected leader of the opposition.

On 21 July 2016 Teina Bishop was found guilty of corruption over his granting of fisheries licences while a Minister.

Teina Bishop was removed from his seat, sparking the 2016 Arutanga-Reureu-Nikaupara by-election.

Teina Bishop served a six-month term of imprisonment and was released in June 2017.

Teina Bishop did not contest the 2018 election, but remained as One Cook Islands leader.