[16] In September 1997, as a first-year student at Victoria University, Hipkins was one of dozens arrested while protesting against the Tertiary Review Green Bill at Parliament.

[18] Hipkins was selected to stand in the Labour-held seat of Rimutaka (renamed Remutaka in 2020 following a 2016 Treaty of Waitangi settlement)[19] in the 2008 general election, following the retirement of the sitting MP Paul Swain.

However, Hipkins has clarified that the Ministry of Education would continue to fund the University of Otago's National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement and the Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT).

"[43][44] In February 2019, Hipkins proposed merging the country's 16 polytechnics into a New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology to counter deficits and declining domestic enrolments.

"[70] In mid-January 2022, in his capacity as minister for COVID-19 response, Hipkins postponed the next MIQ lottery due to a tenfold increase in imported Omicron cases entering New Zealand.

Meanwhile, health economist Professor Paula Lorgelly rationalised the postponement of the MIQ lottery as "a short-term pain for what I perceive to be quite a long-term gain.

Bellis was an Al Jazeera journalist who, after becoming pregnant, had left Qatar owing to the Gulf state's law criminalising unmarried pregnancies.

Due to New Zealand's strict pandemic border policies, Bellis had struggled to secure a place in the Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) system.

[73] Hipkins was criticised by Bellis' lawyer Tudor Clee for allegedly breaching her client's privacy by sharing personal details about her circumstances and indicated that she was considering "legal options."

MPs Chris Bishop and David Seymour, from National and ACT respectively, also criticised Hipkins' actions, stating that they were "unbecoming" of a minister of the Crown.

In response, ACT leader Seymour criticised the Government's decision to continuing funding contact tracing services as a waste of taxpayer money.

Hipkins had made those remarks during an exchange over the awarding of government contracts to Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta's husband Gannin Ormsby.

The Government however opted to retain the Act's provisions for seven-day isolation periods, mask use and border entry requirements until Parliament passed general pandemic legislation.

[86] On 19 January 2023, Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly announced her resignation as leader of the Labour Party in a media conference, stating that she "no longer had enough in the tank" to do the job.

[7][89] Stuff reported that Kiritapu Allan, the East Coast MP and minister of justice who had been speculated by media as an alternative candidate, was one of the seven MPs who nominated him.

[90] Hipkins had previously demurred when asked about his leadership aspirations, stating that he would support whichever candidate the Labour Party could "reach a consensus" on.

[91] In a media standup outside Parliament at 1:00 p.m. on 21 January, Hipkins commented that he discovered he had emerged as that consensus candidate as "the door to the plane [that he had boarded for a flight to Wellington] was closing", leaving him unable to respond to his messages for 40 minutes.

In addition, Ashburton dairy farmer Nick Gier called on the Government to scrap the Three Waters reform programme and carbon emissions taxes on the agricultural sector.

In addition, Hipkins confirmed that other policies including the social income insurance scheme, proposed hate speech legislation, and the Three Waters reform programme would be delayed or revised.

In the end the hate speech legislation was deleyed and not talked about until in March 2024 when the policy was ordered to be scrapped by the newly in power NZ National Party.

The Government would redirect funding to a NZ$2 billion to a welfare package to provide "bread and butter" support to 1.4 million New Zealanders affected by the ongoing "cost of living" crisis.

[113][114] On 11 April 2023, Hipkins and Health Minister Verrall announced that the New Zealand Government would retain the few remaining COVID-19 restrictions including the seven-day mandatory isolation period for positive cases and mask wearing requirements at hospitals for at least two months.

[115] The 2023 New Zealand Budget, presented on 18 May 2023, was regarded as cementing Hipkins' dedication to a "no-frills" welfare programme to combat cost of living.

During the visit, Albanese confirmed that his government would revise the deportation policy to take into account individuals' connections to Australia and the length of time they had lived in the country.

[127] Hipkins' delegation arrived in Beijing on 26 June where he was greeted by New Zealand Ambassador to China Grahame Morton and Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu.

[129] The opposition criticised Hipkins for flying with a second jetliner as backup to as far as the Philippines in case the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Boeing 757 he rode were to experience mishap.

[130] On 9 July, Hipkins and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen formally signed the New Zealand-European free trade agreement in Brussels.

[141] On 10 November, Hipkins and Luxon agreed to advise Governor-General Cindy Kiro to prolong the caretaker government arrangement due to lengthy coalition talks between National, ACT and New Zealand First.

In response to the poll, several senior Labour MPs including Kieran McAnulty, David Parker, Jan Tinetti and Willie Jackson expressed support for Hipkins' leadership of the party.

[159][160] His love for sausage rolls has promoted discussion, with some political commentators claiming it embodies the sharp departure from the soft power New Zealand enjoyed under Ardern ("Jacindamania").