*This story was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission*
He's set to replace Jacinda Ardern as the new leader of the country, but what do we know about Chris Hipkins?
Chris Hipkins will become the next Prime Minister of New Zealand after being confirmed as the Labour Party's sole nominee this morning.
Hipkins has been a high-profile minister in the Labour Government, taking on significant portfolios - education, health, Covid-19 response and police.
Although he said on Friday he hadn't been shoulder-tapped by departing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Hipkins is known for stepping in to tidy up the messes left behind by other ministers.
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Following the 2017 election, Hipkins became minister of education, overseeing sweeping changes including the abolishing of charter schools and merging of polytechnics into a single entity.
He was also appointed interim health minister after David Clark resigned ahead of the 2020 election. Following that election, Hipkins retained his education portfolio and took on the job of Covid-19 response minister.
But, in June last year, Hipkins was removed as Covid-19 minister and replaced Poto Williams in the police portfolio. Williams had not responded well to issues like ram raids and Auckland's gang shootings, and Ardern said at the time of the reshuffle that Hipkins' degree in criminology and interest in the youth justice space made him a good fit for the role.
Most recently, Hipkins was the minister of education, minister of police, minister for the public service and leader of the house. He has been the MP for Remutaka since the 2008 election.
Forced apologies
In October 2021, Northland was sent into an 11-day lockdown after it was alleged three "sex workers" with possible gang connections crossed the Auckland border.
At the time, Hipkins, as Covid-19 response minister, accused them of using false information to travel across the border but it was later revealed, under the Official Information Act, that Hipkins knew at the time that a blunder by officials had been the reason and that the women were not at fault. He has not apologised for the accusations, nor has he corrected the reports that these women were "gang-related sex workers".
He did, however, apologise to New Zealand journalist Charlotte Bellis after she took legal action. Hipkins had made incorrect statements about Bellis' circumstances, including that she ignored consular assistance, and had shared her personal information publicly.
In a letter to Bellis in March, he apologised for " the errors in my comments, and the inclusion of personal information in the statement and for the subsequent distress it caused her".
In September 2022, Hipkins, as public service minister, apologised in the House to former finance minister Sir Bill English for dragging his family into an exchange over government contracts awarded to the husband of Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta.
"I did not intend to suggest in any way that the appointments involving [English's] family were inappropriate; in fact, I was attempting to illustrate the opposite," he said.
Becoming a politician
According to his bio on the Labour Party website, Hipkins attended Waterloo Primary School, Hutt Intermediate and Hutt Valley Memorial College (later known as Petone College) where he was head boy in 1996. He completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in politics and criminology at Victoria University.
After completing his study, Hipkins worked in the industry training sector. Before becoming an MP he also worked at Parliament, first as senior advisor to two education ministers and later in the office of the then-prime minister Helen Clark.
He entered Parliament in 2008 and became the spokesperson for education at the beginning of 2013.
Chris Hipkins - a timeline
Here's a look back at Hipkins' career in politics, and rise to the top job.
2008 - Hipkins enters Parliament, standing in the Remutaka seat following the retirement of MP Paul Swain. He was appointed Labour spokesperson for Internal Affairs and became the Chief Whip following the 2011 general election. He also held the state services and associate education spokesperson roles.
2017 - Hipkins is elected as a Cabinet minister by the Labour Party caucus and becomes minister for education.
During this time, he supported the abolition of National Standards and charter schools and signalled a review of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) system.
In 2019, Hipkins proposed merging the country's polytechnics into a single entity - a move criticised by many including the National Party.
2020 - David Clark resigns as health minister and Hipkins is appointed interim health minister.
In November 2020, Hipkins was minister of education, minister for the public service and Covid-19 response minister.
In December 2021, Hipkins took time out of his summer holiday break to front a Covid-19 news conference to discuss the border-related Omicron case, a DJ from the UK, who went out in the Auckland community. He held the conference in a nature reserve in Raumati. His mum apologised on his behalf to waiting media as Hipkins was nearly half an hour late to the conference. His walk down a hill in a nature reserve caused a social media stir and became the subject of many memes.
2022 - In defence of the country's MIQ system, Hipkins publicly shared personal information of New Zealand journalist Charlotte Bellis, and said she had ignored consular assistance. However, following legal action taken by Bellis, Hipkins apologised for releasing personal information and making inaccurate statements.
In June 2022, Hipkins was moved from being Covid-19 response minister and picked up the police minister portfolio from Poto Williams. Williams had "lost focus" and had not handled issues like ram raids and Auckland's gang shootings well, the Government said at the time.
In September 2022, Hipkins issued an apology in the House to former finance minister Bill English for suggesting he had granted family members government contracts. He made those remarks following remarks made about Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta's husband Gannin Ormsby being awarded government contracts.
2023 - Following Jacinda Ardern's resignation announcement, Hipkins quickly became the front-runner to take over as prime minister, although he said he had not been shoulder-tapped by Ardern.
"I think we will have a good, constructive discussion, we will select a new leader that the party will then unite behind. Leadership contests don't have to be like the Hunger Games as the National Party seem to have perfected the art of. It is actually possible to do it differently and that's what we'll be striving to do," he said on Thursday.
