Christopher Luxon

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 2023 and as leader of the National Party since 2021. He previously served as leader of the Opposition from 2021 to 2023. He has been member of Parliament (MP) for Botany since 2020. Prior to entering politics, he was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Air New Zealand from 2013 to 2019.

Luxon was born in Christchurch and grew up in Howick in East Auckland, before studying commerce at the University of Canterbury. He joined Unilever in 1993 and held senior roles at Unilever Canada, becoming president and CEO of the subsidiary in 2008. In 2011, Luxon left Unilever Canada and joined Air New Zealand as group general manager and became CEO in 2013.

After stepping down as CEO of Air New Zealand in 2019, Luxon won the pre-selection for the safe National Party seat of Botany in East Auckland, and retained the seat for National at the 2020 general election despite a landslide defeat for the party nationally. He 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.

Luxon won the leadership unopposed on 30 November 2021, a little more than eight months after his maiden speech, and after a party crisis led to the removal of Judith Collins as leader. Becoming the seventh National Party leader in less than five years, Luxon re-oriented the party around the COVID-19 recession and what he called the "cost-of-living crisis", criticising Labour for its leadership. He led his party into the 2023 general election which won 48 seats. 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.

Lacking the necessary seats to govern, Luxon required the aid of two parties, ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First to form a majority. He was sworn in as prime minister on 27 November 2023 and currently leads the Sixth National Government. Policy differences and public disagreements between the three party leaders have led opposition parties and political commentators to refer to the government as a 'coalition of chaos'.