Christopher Luxon

The Right Honourable Christopher Luxon MP
Official portrait, 2023
42nd Prime Minister of New Zealand
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 November 2023
Monarch	Charles III
Governor-General	Cindy Kiro
Deputy	Winston Peters
Preceded by	Chris Hipkins
15th Leader of the National Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 November 2021
Deputy	Nicola Willis
Preceded by	Judith Collins
5th Minister for National Security and Intelligence
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 November 2023
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Chris Hipkins
40th Leader of the Opposition
In office 30 November 2021 – 27 November 2023
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins
Deputy	Nicola Willis
Preceded by	Judith Collins
Succeeded by	Chris Hipkins
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Botany
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 October 2020
Preceded by	Jami-Lee Ross
Majority	16,337
Personal details
Born	Christopher Mark Luxon (1970-07-19) 19 July 1970 (age 53) Christchurch, New Zealand
Political party	National
Spouse	Amanda ​ (m. 1994)​
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Canterbury (BCom; MCom)
Known for	Former CEO of Air New Zealand, Former employee of Unilever Canada
Signature

This article is part of a series about Christopher Luxon
Early life MP for Botany Electoral history Leader of the National Party 2021 leadership election Leader of the Opposition Shadow Cabinet Coalition of chaos Prime Minister Sixth National Government International prime ministerial trips General elections 2023
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Christopher Mark Luxon (/ˈlʌksən/; born 19 July 1970) is a New Zealand politician and former business executive who has served as the 42nd prime minister of New Zealand since November 2023. He served as leader of the Opposition from 2021 to 2023. Luxon became member of Parliament (MP) for Botany in 2020. He had previously been the chief executive officer (CEO) of Air New Zealand from 2012 to 2019.^[1][2]

Luxon was born in Christchurch and grew up in Howick in East Auckland, before studying commerce at the University of Canterbury. He worked for Unilever from 1993 and held senior roles at Unilever Canada in 2008, joining Air New Zealand as group general manager in 2011 and succeeding as CEO the following year. He won the pre-selection for the safe National Party seat of Botany in East Auckland in 2019, and retained the seat for National at the 2020 general election despite a landslide defeat for the party nationally.

Luxon was often touted as a potential National Party leader during the turbulent time for the party politically in the aftermath of the 2017 general election, even before becoming an MP. He won the leadership unopposed on 30 November 2021, a little more than eight months after he gave his maiden speech, after a party crisis caused the removal of previous leader Judith Collins. Becoming the seventh National Party leader in less than five years, Luxon reorientated the party around the COVID-19 recession and the "cost-of-living crisis", criticising Labour for its leadership, and also emphasised a distaste for welfare dependency, water reform, and co-governance with Māori. He led his party to winning 15 seats and a plurality of 48 at the 2023 general election, with polls narrowing and then strongly favouring National from the middle of the year onwards. Despite enjoying a 12-percentage point swing, National returned the second-lowest vote share of any party that has won a plurality under proportional representation.

Luxon was subsequently was sworn in as prime minister on 27 November 2023, and leads the Sixth National Government, with the aid of two other right-wing parties, ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First. His approval ratings have slumped since entering office.