What these roles mean
Parliament’s job titles are used constantly and explained rarely. Here is what each of the roles badged on this page actually involves.
- Speaker of the House
- Chairs debates in the House, rules on procedure and keeps order. Elected by MPs, not appointed by the Prime Minister, and expected to act impartially rather than for their party.
- Deputy and Assistant Speakers
- Take the chair when the Speaker is not presiding, and share the same duty of impartiality. They come from both government and opposition parties.
- Leader of the House
- A government minister who manages Parliament's business - which bills are debated, in what order, and how the sitting calendar is arranged. The opposition's counterpart is the Shadow Leader of the House.
- Cabinet Minister
- Runs one or more portfolios and sits in Cabinet, the senior decision-making group of ministers. Cabinet ministers are bound to publicly support collective decisions.
- Minister outside Cabinet
- Holds a ministerial warrant and runs portfolios, but does not sit in Cabinet. Common for ministers from smaller parties in a coalition.
- Associate Minister
- Supports the lead minister in a portfolio, usually handling a defined slice of it delegated to them.
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary
- Assists a minister with a portfolio but is not a minister and does not sit in the Executive Council. The most junior role on the ministerial ladder.
- Spokesperson
- An opposition MP assigned to follow a portfolio, question the responsible minister and lead their party's response on it. The opposition equivalent of a minister.
- Whip (or Musterer)
- Manages a party's MPs in the House - attendance, speaking slots and votes. The Greens call theirs the Musterer; Te Pāti Māori, the Matarau.
- Backbench MP
- An MP without a ministerial or spokesperson role. They still vote, sit on select committees, represent constituents and can introduce members' bills.
- List MP vs Electorate MP
- Electorate MPs are elected by voters in a geographic seat. List MPs enter through their party's ranked list, in proportion to its share of the party vote. Both have identical powers in the House.
Ordered by caucus rank where the party publishes one. MPs without a published ranking follow, alphabetically by surname. Portfolios for government MPs come from the official Ministerial List; opposition portfolios from each party’s published allocation. Each MP’s sources are listed under “More”.