[1] Hilt was born in Auckland, and attended Takapuna Grammar School.
In 1995, however, he left National to join the new United New Zealand Party, founded as a centrist group by seven sitting MPs.
[6] In the 44th New Zealand Parliament, Hilt was elected Deputy Chairman of Committees on 1 March 1995 after Joy McLauchlan resigned that position on 27 February.
Though he had by this time left the National Party, Hilt continued in the succeeding position of first Assistant Speaker.
Until the appointment of Green MP Teanau Tuiono as third assistant speaker in 2023,[8] he was the only presiding officer of the New Zealand House of Representatives since 1943 not to have been a member of either National or Labour while serving.