After 33 years in Parliament, Trevor Mallard has landed the plum job he's been eyeing for some time.
The man who once infamously punched another MP outside the debating chamber will now hold one of the highest offices in the country - Speaker of the House.
The keen cyclist had the backing of the Prime Minister, who proudly declared him "the first Speaker who is a MAMIL - a middle-aged man in Lycra".
"There are only a handful of jobs you haven't done, and this one here was taken," Jacinda Ardern said.
Mallard has had a colourful Parliamentary career.
In 2002 he made some blunt comments involving International Rugby bosses and "Heinekens in particularly uncomfortable places".
He accused Don Brash of an extramarital affair in Parliament in 2006.
In 2007 he scuffled with Tau Henare inside the Parliament building, and was caught on-selling festival tickets to students for a profit in 2012.
A champion of the Hutt Valley, Mallard used the 2014 election campaign to champion the return of moa to the Wainuiomata hills, saying "I'd like ones which I could pat on the head".
Just four months ago, Mallard was looking for other jobs.
A Labour Party struggling under the leadership of Andrew Little wouldn't have been able to deliver enough seats to get him back into Parliament.
But today, sworn in as Speaker at Government House as his Prime Minister and family watched on, one of Parliament's poachers is now its gatekeeper.
Newshub.
