How well do we really know our politicians and the personal values and experiences they bring to decisions that affect us all?
Newshub Nation's Backstory series goes behind the scenes into our political leaders' lives and childhood photo albums.
National MP Chris Bishop grew up in Kings Crescent, Central Lower Hutt.
His best 5k run is 24 minutes and 30 seconds, but in the parkrun he took Newshub Nation along to he ran it in around 27 minutes.
Bishop values keeping fit, admitting that he has always struggled with his weight.
The parkrun is a regular part of Bishop's Saturday mornings and helps to get him out of bed.
Bishop admits that when he was younger he was "always late for school".
He credits a project on Tudor England as first getting him into history.
Bishop's father was a journalist, who he describes as "the Paddy Gower of his generation", who was the political editor for TVNZ for a number of years, as well as working at RNZ.
Bishop's mother was originally a teacher but then retrained as a lawyer when he was at primary school.
He described his grandparents on his mother's side as "methodist social activists".
"Nana famously got arrested on the Hutt road, state highway two, during the Springbok tour in 1981.
"She lay down on the Hutt motorway, got arrested and given 100 hours community service."
Bishop believes his family history has instilled in him an interest in "social progress and trying to make things better".
As a politician, Bishop admits he has said "stupid things" before that he regrets.
"I try and keep an even keel, try and play hard but fair."
He said he loves cricket, music, and food and suspects if he had never gotten into politics he would either be a cricketer, in a band or run a restaurant.
Bishop spent a lot of time in debating teams and in 2007, he and his debating partner won the Cambridge Union debating tournament, which was the first time a New Zealand team had ever won.
He is married to Jenna who he met in 2009 while debating at university.
They have a son called Jeremy and a dog called Lady Hawke.
Jenna said with Chris being in Parliament "you have to be a unit, you have to be a team and 100 percent supportive of each other all the time".
Bishop said that they both have their own path, careers and views.
"We're both really respectful of that in eachother which is really good," he said.
"We call each other out a lot," Jenna said.
"We definitely disagree but we've got good mechanisms for working through disagreements."
"I lose all the time, it's fine," Bishop added.
Jenna is the practical one around the house, with Bishop admitting that he can be a little incompetent when it comes to flat packs and home handiwork.
"I sort out the creepy crawlies, Jenna sorts out fixing stuff," he said.
The deal was even in their wedding vows, alongside Bishop watching all the Harry Potter movies and reading all the books, which he now proudly says he has done.
"And you were supposed to stop biting your nails," Jenna said.
"And I have not, I have failed my vows," Bishop said as the couple laughed.
"It's a work in progress."
Watch the full video for more.
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