By Esther Taunton of 
MPs at the official opening of Parliament in December 2023. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
A farmer, a lawyer and a union official walk into Parliament… It could be the start of a joke, but there is no punchline in the pipeline.
A look at MPs' collective CV shows New Zealand's 54th Parliament is a mixed bag, with its 123 members having had 216 careers between them.
MPs have worked in law, local government, agriculture, business, education and construction, as well as social and community work.
But while their political views and employment histories might be worlds apart, there are some strong similarities in MPs' backgrounds.
"Parliament is fairly homogeneous in [MPs] having a financially secure upbringing, quality and high-level education, and white-collar work experience," said Mark Blackham, director of Blackland PR, which carried out the analysis.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon as then-CEO of Air New Zealand. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Although there were some exceptions, the education and career choices of most MPs covered a narrower set of interests than would be found in the general population, Blackland said.
"Compared to the everyday world, Parliament is stacked with university degrees, private school education, and more office-based and politically funded work."
While almost 14 percent of MPs (17) had legal work experience, just 0.5 percent of the public had been employed in the sector.
Parliament also had proportionally more managers (44) and analysts (22) than the wider population, but fewer people with experience in construction.
Only 2.4 percent of MPs had worked in building-related roles, compared to 10 percent of the general public. The six most popular pre-Parliament careers for MPs were, in descending order, managers, elected representatives, analysts, lawyers, business owners and farmers.
Angela Roberts - a former PPTA president and Stratford High School teacher - was a Labour list MP in the previous government. Photo: Facebook / Angela Roberts
One notable omission from that list is teachers, due to the exit of many Labour MPs at the last election.
The number of teachers in Parliament has fallen from 20 to six, while the number with farm-related occupations has risen from seven to 12. A further 18 have farming backgrounds.
And although Parliament has some diversity in working interests, it is harder to tell the parties apart by their career histories, with commerce, management and government featuring widely, Blackham said.
The National Party caucus has many former private sector managers such as former Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon, and Dan Bidois, who was a strategy manager at Foodstuffs. Other prominent career backgrounds include financial services and the primary industries.
Before entering Parliament, Nicole McKee's work including running a firearms safety consultancy. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
ACT has a high proportion of small business owners, including Nicole McKee, who ran a firearms safety consultancy, and Laura Trask, who operated an evacuation consultancy.
Many members of the Green Party caucus have backgrounds in social and community work, including co-leader Marama Davidson, who previously worked as a race relations advisor for the Human Rights Commission, and Ricardo Menéndez March who was a community worker.
The Labour Party has the largest proportion of MPs with public sector experience, with MPs such as Ginny Anderson and Barbara Edmonds who worked for other elected officials. The caucus also has many lawyers and union officials in its ranks.
Te Pāti Māori MP Rawiri Waititi has been a lecturer and worked in the health and social sectors through the Waipareira Trust, while co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has experience in Māori broadcasting, management and served as deputy mayor of South Taranaki.
- This story was first published by Stuff.
