Chris Hipkins | New Zealand’s new Prime Minister, the troubleshooter in Jacinda Arden’s cabinet

The story so far: The new government will is going to be focusing on New Zealand’s “bread and butter

The story so far: The new government will be focusing on New Zealand’s “bread and butter issues,” the ruling Labour Party’s new leader Chris Hipkins said in an interview on Monday, January 23, after being chosen as leader by his party.

He was sworn in as the country’s new Prime Minister on Wednesday, following the unprecedented resignation of Jacinda Ardern, who gained global popularity for her charismatic leadership and “politics of kindness”. Mr. Hipkins, Labour’s only nomination for the top job, held multiple portfolios in the outgoing Ms. Arden’s administration, including that of Education and Police.

Who is Chris Hipkins?

Chris Hipkins, 44, is a Labour Party politician who entered the New Zealand Parliament as an MP for Remutaka in 2008 — the same year as Jacinda Ardern. Born in the largely working-class Hutt Valley near the capital Wellington in 1978, he studied in the Hutt Intermediate school and attended the Hutt Valley Memorial College (later Petone College). “It’s a big day for a boy from the Hutt,” Mr. Hipkins said, ahead of receiving his party’s endorsement for the new job, adding that his parents came from “relatively humble beginnings”. Hutt, while close to the capital, is a region burdened by comparatively lower incomes, higher poverty rates, and “rougher edges” than Wellington, a report by The Guardian notes.

Mr. Hipkins earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Victoria University in Wellington, majoring in politics and criminology. In his maiden address in the country’s Parliament, he said that his interest in politics spiked when he was arrested during a protest as a first-year college student. In September 1997, hundreds of people, including many students, marched to the Parliament grounds in the capital, protesting the government’s tertiary education policy as turning “academic entities into corporate entities, and treating students as customers”. He was among the many students arrested and detained overnight by the Wellington police, on charges that were later proven unjust and dropped in a court ruling.

The legal battle dragged on for over a decade, during which time Mr. Hipkins became a students’ association leader, and much later, a senior adviser at former Prime Minister Helen Clark’s office and Parliament member. The legislature’s speaker in 2009 offered an apology and compensation to those students who were arrested.

Mr. Hipkins worked in the industry training sector for a short while before entering politics. He shares a close relationship to Ms. Arden, having entered politics around the same time — in 2020, he even married long-time partner Jade in a ceremony organised at Ms. Ardern’s official residence, with Finance Minister Grant Roberson as best man.