'No job like being an MP' — How Parliament's new faces are preparing for the role

The preliminary result of the 2020 general election has seen a large group of new faces descend upon Parliament for the first time this week, with first-time MPs making up about a third of the House.  

Clerk of the House David Wilson, who heads Parliament’s secretariat the Office of the Clerk, is helping new MPs get settled in. 

“It’s a very big class, and a really diverse group from a range of different backgrounds,” he said of the new 2020 intake. 

“Like every new intake of MPs, they’re very enthusiastic. I really enjoy working with them and they’re a great bunch.”

The Clerk’s office, alongside the Parliamentary Service, runs an induction programme every three years. 

“They [the new MPs] get the chance to meet the Press Gallery. They hear from experienced MPs as well about some of the ins and outs of the job,” Wilson said. 

“It’s something we’ve done for many, many Parliaments … and we tweak and improve on it from feedback from MPs each time.

“We’ve always run an induction process just because we think there’s really no job like being an MP.”

The programme will also take new MPs through role plays of Question Time and the select committee process this week.

Wilson said the role plays were important because watching Question Time was very different to being part of it. 

“I sit in the chamber during Question Time. So I know, for example, that it’s much noisier than it seems on TV when you’re just getting the feed through the microphone,” he said.

“We want members, when they first do that, to be comfortable doing it, and to know they’re going to be on TV and know where to look and what to do.”

As for preparing politicians for select committees, Wilson said it was about getting them used to its more co-operative dynamic. 

Select committees require MPs to ask detailed questions of officials, experts and members of the public advising them on proposed legislation. These submitters’ thoughts can influence the content of the Bill presented in the House.

“So, we’re getting officials in front of the members that they can then question. Obviously, the scenario isn’t a real thing, but it gives them an opportunity to try these things out,” Wilson said.

The training sits alongside each political party’s own induction programme. But, Wilson said his team approached the induction process “from a slightly different angle”.

“Being politically neutral agencies of Parliament, we talk about things from a cross-party point of view about how things work.”

Wilson said new MPs who come from public law backgrounds or have served in other decision-making bodies often find their experience helps with the job.

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“But, there’s probably no-one who would come with all of those elements,” he added.

“I don't think there's any other role in New Zealand that prepares you very well for being an MP.”