WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand is choosing a new government in a national election that concludes Saturday. But one outcome is already known: The next prime minister will be a man named Chris.
The leaders of the nation's two biggest political parties bear that name. Center-right National is helmed by Christopher Luxon, who has been prime minister since the 2023 election, when his party ousted center-left Labour, led by Chris Hipkins.
Both
leaders in the “battle of the Chrises” are, according to most opinion polls, fairly unpopular with voters.
The ascension of political Chrises is linked to the popularity of the name Christopher for New Zealand children until the mid-1980s, peaking in 1968 when nearly 800 babies were given the name, according to government data. In 2025, just 20 newborns were named Christopher.
Here’s how to tell the political leaders apart.
The National party’s leader and incumbent prime minister, Luxon, 56, was one of more than 600 Christophers born in New Zealand in 1970. When he took power after the 2023 election, Luxon was a relative political novice who had first been elected to Parliament in 2020.
Before entering politics he was head of national carrier Air New Zealand. He also worked in the United States and Canada as an executive for consumer packaged goods firm Unilever.
Luxon, a father of two, has often declined to discuss his Christian faith publicly in resolutely secular New Zealand, a country where politicians who hold strong religious views are sometimes seen as suspect.
His party was elected on his pledges of economic growth, and Luxon highlighted his own business acumen when he said he would seek deals abroad for New Zealand.
Luxon says his achievements in office include a free trade deal negotiated and signed between New Zealand and India, export growth, education reforms and tougher measures against criminal gangs. His detractors note that domestic economic recovery has been slow, with living costs and unemployment stubbornly high. They portray Luxon, a millionaire, as disconnected from the struggles of ordinary people.
In 2026 Luxon survived an unusual pair of confidence votes among his lawmakers over his leadership of the party, after slumps in opinion polling and verbal gaffes that some analysts said reflected his political inexperience. The National leader prompted one of the votes himself as speculation grew that he might be toppled by his party.
The second vote followed a leadership bid from another Chris, then Defense Minister Chris Penk, who was sacked from the Cabinet by Luxon and will leave politics after the election. Transport Minister Chris Bishop, third-ranked in Luxon’s cabinet, is often mentioned as a possible successor for the party’s leadership.
The Labour party’s leader, Hipkins, 48, was born in 1978 when he was one of more than 400 babies to receive the name Christopher. Hipkins became prime minister without a general election in January 2023 after his then-leader Jacinda Ardern abruptly quit, citing exhaustion following more than five years in the job.
After nine months as prime minister, Hipkins led Labour to electoral defeat and became leader of the opposition. He began in politics as student body president at his university, where he studied political science, and entered New Zealand’s parliament in 2008 at age 30.
The father of two was handed weighty portfolios in Ardern’s Cabinet, including health, education and responsibility for New Zealand’s pandemic response. While the public health outcomes of the country's strict COVID-19 lockdowns were praised by experts globally, Labour faced a backlash against the economic impact of the measures on the biggest city, Auckland.
Hipkins, who has campaigned in 2026 on pledges to curb steep living costs and boost funding for New Zealand’s public healthcare system, is still negatively associated with the pandemic-era policies by opponents.
He presents himself as a relatable everyman.
After Ardern announced she would quit, Hipkins spoke to reporters dressed in a hoodie, baseball cap and wraparound sunglasses, provoking memes on social media. His love of sausage rolls is so well-documented that he has been served them by foreign leaders on official visits abroad.
During the pandemic, Hipkins made headlines when he told a news conference it was difficult for people to “get outside and spread their legs” without infecting others. He later clarified that he had intended to say “stretch their legs,” but the phrase went viral.
No other lawmakers in his party are called Chris.
