Barry Soper: My politician of the year

THREE KEY FACTS

• Christopher Luxon became 42nd Prime Minister in November 2023.
• He was elected to Parliament in October 2020.
• Luxon was the CEO of Air NZ from 2012 to 2019.

As the year draws to an end spare a thought of what life must be like for Christopher Luxon.

This is a man who’s been in politics for just four years. To describe his rise to the top as meteoric would be an understatement. No one in modern political history has become Prime Minister with so little political experience.

The board room comes no where near the Cabinet office. For starters as the chief executive of Air New Zealand what Luxon said to his executive was essentially done.

In the Cabinet room anything he says is the subject of debate and frequently his view doesn’t always win the day. He’s had to learn to compromise big time.

Luxon isn’t your typical politician, let alone the leader of the country. For starters the demon drink has never got so much as a sniff from him. And he’s a Christian to boot.

Almost 35 years ago when Jim Bolger became the Prime Minister, there was a feeling from some he’d never make it because he was a Catholic!

Luxon was advised when he was about to give his maiden speech to Parliament to leave out the Christian side of his life. He ignored the advice and went full-on about his beliefs. The public seemed to have liked it. It led to a healthy debate about Christianity and politics.

This man was pilloried by the media for having too many properties - he had seven. In recent months he’s sold three and again he’s been vilified for the profit he’s made without paying tax on it.

You’d surely be asking questions of a man with his professional, highly paid background, if he didn’t have investments. He was attacked, as if it was immoral, when he said on Newstalk ZB Drive a while ago “let me be clear: I’m wealthy, I’m, you know, sorted.”

It may have been clumsy but the quote was for some reason seen as the quote of the year in some quarters, as though he was removed from the pain of those who haven’t done as well as him are going through.

Of course he does, he didn’t enter politics with a blindfold. He did enter politics earning a fraction of what he was on as the airline boss! And he entered politics genuinely hoping that he could put the place back on track.

And he should be celebrated for that, not condemned.

It’s true, he entered politics to make a difference.

For those of us who knew him before he made the leap, they would appreciate he came into the job coveting the Prime Minister’s role. Never did he think though he’d achieve that in a few short years. But he should have, the National Party which he led just a year after signing on as an MP was a dog’s breakfast.

His leadership brought unity to the political wing of the party, putting it in the position it is today.

It’s a tougher job than any recent incumbent has had, dealing with the egos of those around him. He’s certainly done it with the old warhorse Winston Peters, dining at each other’s houses. He likes Peters despite the fact that he derailed the Government on the ferry deal.

Whatever the outcome, Peters will declare it as his victory and no one in the coalition will likely publicly disagree with him.

Act’s David Seymour is another kettle of fish, much more slippery even than Peters. He’ll be deputy Prime Minister in May, just in time for Nicola Willis’ austere Budget. That’ll be a significant coalition test for him.

So as Luxon packs his bags for the holidays with his family and friends, he can reflect on a stinker of a year, but one that he’s survived pretty well.

His ratings were never going to be high given the mess that he inherited, but in my making-it-against-all-odds book, he has to be my politician of the year.

Barry Soper is a New Zealand political journalist, and has been featured regularly on radio and television since the 1970s. Currently, Soper's main role is political editor at Newstalk ZB, a radio network in New Zealand.