Watch: 'Happy' Chris Bishop accepts rare endorsement from Winston Peters

Chris Bishop has welcomed Winston Peters’ surprise endorsement in the battleground Hutt South race, as the senior National MP fights for his political survival in the seat.

The consequential contest has the potential of seeing Bishop out of Parliament altogether if unsuccessful in retaining the seat against Labour’s Ginny Andersen, with National’s low polling meaning it is unlikely to elect any list MPs.

At a public meeting in the Hutt Valley on Wednesday night, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters gave a rare and “very unique” endorsement to the National candidate.

“Mr Bishop needs that endorsement; without it he might be out of Parliament,” Peters said.

“We can all acknowledge Chris Bishop, it is quite rare for us to say this, is a cut above the regular MP.”

New Zealand First is running Backbencher Pub owner Alistair Boyce in the seat, who is targeting the party vote and has also endorsed Bishop.

Peters said this was an endorsement of Bishop, not National.

Appearing on a Newstalk ZB Hutt South debate today, Bishop was asked by host Nick Mills about the surprise endorsement.

“I thought it was nice, I didn’t know he was going to do it,” Bishop said.

“I take support from wherever it comes,” he said.

“If Mr Peters wants to encourage people to vote for me then I’m happy to have his endorsement.”

Andersen suggested Peters’ endorsement could harm Bishop’s chances in the Hutt South contest.

“I know that Chris has got a bit of a strategy to try and get people on the left to vote for him in order to try and win Hutt South, and having an endorsement from Winston Peters probably doesn’t help,” she said.

“[Peters has] been pretty openly racist to members of migrant communities and that’s felt in the Hutt, people don’t like that kind of rhetoric, it’s divisive and so I don’t know if it’s particularly helpful being closely associated with that.”

The debate between the pair was largely civil and began with Andersen bringing in coffee for Bishop and Mills.

“No arguing, no bickering, just good healthy debate with kindness and respect,” Mills said of the exchange, noting Bishop said he was suffering a headache before going on air.

Bishop spoke of progress he had made in infrastructure projects, including the Melling and Riverlink projects being underway, the new Te Ara Tupua shared path opening, hospital and school upgrades, and new trains for the rail network.

Andersen spoke of wanting to give hope to the people of the Hutt.

“We can do better than we are doing now and our people deserve to see a future for themselves and their children in the Hutt Valley. Right now they don’t have that,” she said.

Both have been out door-knocking in the electorate to firm up support.

Chris Bishop (right) said he was "happy" to hear Winston Peters say he was "a cut above the regular MP". Bishop is pictured next to his Labour opponent Ginny Andersen. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Herald recently spent a day on the Hutt South campaign trail with the candidates, as part of an in-depth profile on the tight race. You can read that story here.

Neither would tell Mills how many doors they had knocked on. Andersen said she started at the beginning of the year, while Bishop said he has knocked on the most doors of any National MP this election, according to the party’s outreach app.

Bishop first won the traditionally Labour seat in 2017, but lost it to Andersen in 2020 before winning it back at the last election.

An earlier poll of the electorate had Andersen on 42% and Bishop on 30%.

Bishop called it a “junk robo-poll done by a former Labour hack”. It was commissioned by Victor Consulting, a company founded by former Labour staffer Clint Smith.

Hutt South has also been profiled as part of the Herald’s 10 battleground seats to watch this election, you can read that story here.

Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.