Prime Minister Bill English has announced the election of National’s new whips following the National Party Caucus this morning.
Mr English says the new senior whip will be Botany MP Jami-Lee Ross. He was previously junior whip and replaces Tim Macindoe, who is now a Minister outside Cabinet.
The junior whip will be Taranaki King Country MP Barbara Kuriger who steps up from third whip.
The third whip will be Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey.
“Jami-Lee Ross, Barbara Kuriger and Matt Doocey will be a great team and I congratulate them on their appointments,” Mr English says.
The Prime Minister also thanked Mr Macindoe for his two-and-a-half years service as senior whip.
What’s a whip?
Parliamentary party whips are members of Parliament who make sure their party’s members are present in Parliament when they are needed to vote.
The term “whipping” was inherited from the British Parliament, and can be traced back to the 18th century hunting term “whipper-in”, a huntsman’s assistant who drives straying hounds back to the main pack using a whip.
Whips do most of the tasks that enable parties to work as teams in the House, such as:
- preparing lists of members from their party to speak in debates
- ensuring members of their party are in the House and at select committee meetings when needed
- negotiating with other whips on House and select committee business
- casting votes on behalf of their parties during a party vote
- helping to settle differences within caucus.
Source: www.parliament.nz
