New goverment, new parliament, new Leader of the House. Chris Bishop is now the Minister responsible for shepherding the Government's legislative agenda. He explains how.
Hutt South MP Chris Bishop is now the National Party's third ranking minister and Leader of the House. Before becoming an MP he was a humble political advisor in the ministerial office of Gerry Brownlee.
At that time, among other roles, Brownlee was Leader of the House. Bishop's job was to help manage that. What 'that' is we'll get to in a moment.
It's "a nice bit of symmetry", Bishop says. He's not alone in that symmetry.
"Interestingly, Chris Hipkins used to do the same job for Michael Cullen, I believe; and then he became Leader of the House under the last Labour Government."
Now, of course, Bishop in turn has a smart young staffer who helps him carry out the role. "I've got great staff in my office. So, very lucky."
Before we get further into this article it might help to provide some context on that Leader of the House role.
New Zealand's cascade of power
Who really runs New Zealand can be confusing, so here's a quick run down through the big-wigs. (Feel free to rewrite the below to be sung to "I know an old lady who swallowed a fly".)
The person who holds the ultimate power in New Zealand is the King,
His stand-in on the ground is the Governor General.
The group that wields that power (on behalf of the King), is the House of Representatives. (We'll call it parliament for ease, but strictly speaking Parliament includes the King.)
Parliament's 'boss' is the Speaker (who actually outranks the Prime Minister).
The leader of the group that holds sway in Parliament is the Prime Minister.
The smaller gang who, with the Prime Minister, decide how to exercise their group's dominance in Parliament, is the Cabinet.
And, finally, the person in charge of turning those decisions and that dominance into law is the Leader of the House.
My apologies to any exacting constitutionalists.
A terrible name, a potent job
As a ministerial title, Leader of the House is a terrible, confusing name. The 'House' part of the title is the House of Representatives (Parliament's House, i.e. the legislature), but the Leader of the House does not lead the House.
A more accurate but tedious title might be Legislative Oversight and Liaison. Or, from Parliament's point of view, 'the annoying person who keeps bringing us extra work'…