Member of Parliament
| Parliament of New Zealand | ||||
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party |
| 1993–1996 | 44th | Te Atatu | Labour | |
| 1999–2002 | 46th | Te Atatu | 34 | Labour |
| 2002–2005 | 47th | Te Atatu | 25 | Labour |
| 2005–2008 | 48th | Te Atatu | 19 | Labour |
| 2008–2010 | 49th | Te Atatū | 7 | Labour |
| 2010–2011 | Changed allegiance to: | Independent | ||
Carter was the first openly gay man ever appointed as a New Zealand Cabinet minister. He has been a strong advocate of gay equality for some time, and has continued this role since entering Parliament. He also started one of the first branches of New Zealand Rainbow Labour for centre-left lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgendered people (LGBT) and others during the 1996-1999 term, after having lost the newly-created Waipareira electorate to National's Brian Neeson by just 107 votes.
At the 2005 election, Carter was re-elected to his seat with 59.4% of the vote, a majority of 10,447.
Labour lost power in the 2008 election. Carter was re-elected, but his majority was almost halved to 5,298.
On 14 June 2010, 4 days after the release of ministerial credit card records, Carter along with two other MPs Shane Jones MP and Mita Ririnui MP (Lab - Lists) were demoted by Opposition Leader Phil Goff MP (Mount Roskill) for misuse of such credit cards. In the case of Carter, he was accused of purchasing personal items with the card, which was outside the rules for Ministerial expenditure as a minister under the former Clark government over a six-year period. Carter has since repaid the money in full. Carter's demotion included removal from the front bench, and loss of the shadow portfolio of Foreign Affairs. Carter subsequently speculated publicly about whether he would continue as a Member of Parliament.
As a cabinet minister, Carter was entitled to the title of The Honourable and became The Hon. Mr Chris Carter which is a title granted for the rest of his life.
Read more about this topic: Chris Carter (politician)
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