Source: Radio New Zealand
The Green Party’s relatively new Chief of Staff, former MP Kevin Hague. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Few political staff roles are more crucial than a party’s chief of staff.
While television and film depictions of the role in shows like House of Cards and The West Wing have helped cement the role in the political imagination of audiences, those portrayals occasionally ring true but are more drama than reality.
A chief of staff needs sharp political instincts and a deep understanding of how Parliament works, which is why it might not surprise you that former MPs sometimes take the job.
Former MP Kevin Hague is the Green Party’s relatively new chief of staff. After time away, Hague has returned to the Parliamentary ecosystem, likely facing a frantic first year as the Greens prepare for the 7 November election.
New arrivals often have interesting insights (and are more willing to chat), so in late 2025, The House sat down with Hague to talk about what the chief job involves beyond its on-screen reputation.
Hague was a Green MP from 2008 to 2016. He had a reputation around Parliament as a backroom thinker and organiser. In the decade since, he held the role of chief executive of Forest and Bird, along with time spent on various boards.
Hague acknowledges parallels between his new role and being a CEO.
In a political party, “MPs are both the board of the company… the people to whom I report, but also the key clients of our work.”
Another way of looking at it, said Hague, is that of a coach of a sports team; an analogy especially apt in what is both an election and World Cup year.
“You’re not trying to be at your peak performance all the way through, you’re practising things, you’re seeing how things are, how various tactics will go.”
Though the chief of staff does work closely with MPs, the remit is primarily ensuring cohesion between the engine room of a political party (its staff) and the MPs.
Surprisingly, the chief of staff role is not a specifically political one. It is more crucial that the chief is capable of managing a range of highly political personalities.
But politics is unavoidable, he said.
“I think if I didn’t have a commitment to the same values and vision that the MPs have, [and] the party has, it would be difficult to do the job. Fundamentally, you’re giving political advice. Well, how do you do that if you don’t have a shared understanding of what we’re trying to achieve?”
During the current Parliament, an unusually high number of Green MPs have exited, whether by tragedy, choice or scandal. This exodus hasn’t just been limited to MPs. A lot of staff have also resigned, leading to speculations of either testy relations or poor management.
A key part of the chief of staff role is to keep everyone rowing in the same direction and stopping anyone from jumping out of the boat altogether. Hague said he plans to bring some discipline from both his time as a caucus strategist and also as a chief executive.
To listen to The House‘s full interview with Kevin Hague, click the link near the top of the page.
RNZ’s The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament’s Office of the Clerk.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
