Chris Baillie

Christopher John Baillie (born )

Early life and career In a speech to Parliament, Baillie said that he was born to a unionist, Labour-supporting household and he believes his contrasting political views originated from his father's support for marine engineer workers on strike. Baillie said that, at 12 years old, he considered the strike unreasonable.

Baillie worked in the police for 14 years, has owned a pub, and has worked as a special education teacher. While working as a teacher he initiated a discussion group at his school, Nayland College, prompted by what he perceived as "hysteria" about climate change, and the effect of this on student mental health. Some of Baillie's former students have criticised his meetings, where he reportedly spoke out against well-known climate change activists including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Greta Thunberg. In response, Baillie denied he was spreading misinformation and rejected descriptions of himself as a climate change denier.

Baillie ran for the electorate of . He did not win the electorate, placing fourth with 1320 votes, but ACT won 7.6% of the party vote, which entitled it to ten MPs, including Baillie. After the election, Baillie said he had not expected to become an MP when he submitted his candidacy. Baillie launched the ACT truancy policy in November 2022, which stated that schools would be required to report attendance data to the Ministry of Education each day or risk losing funding and also proposed an infringement regime for parents of nonattendant children.

Baillie unsuccessfully contested the Nelson electorate for a second time in the 2023 general election, coming fourth place with 2,692 votes. Due to his lower party list ranking of 17, Baillie was not reelected to Parliament.

In the 2025 local elections, Baillie ran to be a Nelson city councillor for the district-wide ward as an independent. He was unsuccessful.

Political views In his 2020 candidacy, Baillie spoke out against the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act, which had passed without opposition in parliament the previous year. He said he supported "sensible" climate change policy that "incorporates evidence". Baillie supported 90-day employment trials, stating "The 90-day (employment) trials in my particular business worked really well. I work with disadvantaged kids and through my policing, I've worked with people who struggle to get a job, and taking away (90-day trials) was a real disservice and made it even more of a challenge for the most vulnerable people in our society to try and get a job."

Personal life Baillie plays the trumpet and has been a member of multiple jazz bands. Baillie owns The Honest Lawyer restaurant in Nelson.