National MP Chris Bishop schools Twitter troll with news of son's birth

National MP Chris Bishop and his wife, Jenna Raeburn, in January this year as they prepared for the arrival of their first child, Photo / Marty Melville

National list MP Chris Bishop has found favour in the Twittersphere with a response to accusations he goes "dead silent when a really niggly issue pops up".

Replying to a tweet posted by Twitter user "A bit left A bit right", the Hutt South-based MP revealed his "silence" was because "my wife was giving birth to my son so forgive me".

My wife was giving birth to my son so forgive me https://t.co/29oNtPHCm5

— Christopher Bishop (@cjsbishop) June 27, 2022

His revelation garnered hundreds of well-wishes including followers telling him "Work must take a back seat, As you experience the new life in your Whanau [sic] ..." and to "Enjoy the cuddles" and "make sure you look after your wife".

Last Christmas Bishop announced that he and wife Jenna Raeburn were expecting their first child.

In a post to his public social media pages, Bishop shared a photo of Raeburn, their pets and himself holding a photo of an ultrasound.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chris Bishop (@cjsbishop)

Many of his followers took the opportunity to congratulate the couple including fellow National MP Simeon Brown and Labour MP Barbara Edmonds.

In January Bishop told the Herald he was nervous but excited about becoming a dad and said he was aware his life would change significantly with the arrival of his son.

He also said National Party leader Christopher Luxon was one of the first MPs he told about the baby.

"He seemed even more excited than I was, fatherhood is really important to him and family is important," Bishop said, adding that Luxon had encouraged him to take as much time off as he needed.

In January he said he would be taking paternity leave when his son arrived, which also happens to coincide with a three-week parliamentary recess.

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