THE RIGHT STUFF
Chris Bishop, the Opposition’s Covid spokesperson, is, according to the Deputy Prime Minister and the Government’s chief wise-cracker, Grant Robertson, “a shiver looking for a spine to run up”. So, how could you not look forward to meeting a shiver?
We met in Petone; the shiver arrived looking like a history teacher at a posh boys’ school. He goes for the preppy look, which sits slightly incongruously with his square-jawed face. We were going to have lunch. He wouldn’t have a glass of wine – “it’s dangerous” – and he wouldn’t have pizza because he’s “trying to stay off the carbs”. I grumbled: what a fun lunch guest he was turning out to be. He had a glass of wine and his crumbed chicken came with a big pile of mashed potato. He drank all the wine, but ate only half the mash. We shared an apple shortcake.
He was a pretty good fun lunch guest. He’s smart, but not in a show-offy way. And the shiver line? “Ha, ha. It’s a great line. It’s a shame he stole it from [Paul] Keating. The moment he started it, I knew it was a Keating line, because I’m a Keatingphile.” He is
