Who is Chris Minns? What you need to know about the incoming NSW premier

NSW Labor leader Chris Minns has just led the party to its first election victory in 12 years.

So far the results suggest Labor will hold at least 47 seats in the 93-member lower house. 

The party picked up at least nine seats from the Coalition, including the key Western Sydney seats of Parramatta and Penrith, as well as the regional seats of South Coast and Monaro.

Speaking at headquarters in Brighton-Le-Sands on Saturday night, Mr Minns said he knew it was going to be close, but the people had voted for a fresh start.

“There are many challenges facing the state of New South Wales over the next four years but the team I lead is ready for the challenges and opportunities of government and will not let the people of this state down,” he said.

“After 12 years in opposition, I want to say to the people who voted for Labor or the Liberals and Nationals, for Independents or minor party candidates, we have been elected but we will govern for everyone.”

So, who is the man tasked with navigating the new government through the next four years?

Here’s what you need to know.

Political education began early

Mr Minns is a Sydneysider who was raised alongside an older sister and younger brother in Penshurst in Sydney’s south.

Although he claims to have “never been interested in politics”, both his parents were “passionate” members of the Labor Party.

In his maiden speech in NSW Parliament in 2015, he said it had been his father — a public school teacher — who had introduced him to the “Labor tribe”.

“I still remember the 1993 federal election when all had given up on Labor except Paul Keating and my dad,” he said.

Chris Minns was raised in Penshurst in Sydney’s south.

He joined the party at 18, shortly before attending a campaign meeting where he met the woman who would go on to become his wife.

“From the moment I set eyes on (Anna) at Beverly Hills Pizza Hut in 1999, I knew she was the one,” Mr Minns tweeted last year.

At the 2022 state Labor conference, Anna Minns described spending the early days of their relationship “driving around New South Wales, door-knocking for Labor MPs and candidates”.

A practising Catholic who no longer drinks

Like outgoing premier Dominic Perrottet, Mr Minns was brought up a practising Catholic, and is raising his three sons in the same tradition.

The 43-year-old voted against the voluntary assisted dying bill passed by the lower house in May last year.

“I don’t think you can codify the risks for a vulnerable person who’s in the latter stage of their life, who may feel they’re a burden on their family or on their loved ones,” he told a media conference in 2021.

Mr Minns voted against the voluntary assisted dying bill passed last year.(AAP: Bianca De Marchi)

When COVID-19 lockdowns ended he gave up drinking alcohol, and says he’s been sober for more than a year.

“I feel fantastic. You’re in charge of your moods, you get your mornings back, you’ve got a bit more energy to get through the day,” he told commercial radio station 2DAY FM in February.

An MP since 2015

After stints as a part-time firefighter, a stay-at-home-dad and a Hurstville City Councillor, Chris Minns was elected as the member for Kogarah in the 2015 state election.

Straight away, he was being touted as a potential party leader.

His maiden speech attracted headlines due to its criticism of the party’s union affiliations.

“Labor also needs to (take) steps to reduce union control on the floor of our conference,” he said.

Chris Minns was elected as the member for Kogarah in 2015.(Facebook: Chris Minns)

During an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation in 2019, Mr Minns handed back more than $10,000 received from a series of “fake” donors tied to a Chinese billionaire who was banned from making political donations.

He has also expressed regret over a five-day trip to China in 2015, which was funded by a political donor with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

Three goes to snag the leadership

Mr Minns first put his hand up for the party’s top job in 2018 following the resignation of then Opposition Leader Luke Foley, but suffered a decisive loss to Michael Daley, securing just 12 votes to his 33.

His next tilt came after the 2019 state election, but he was defeated by Strathfield MP Jodi McKay in a 29 to 21 caucus vote.

Mr Minns’ second attempt at the party leadership failed after he lost to Jodi McKay.(AAP: Joel Carrett)

With Ms McKay stepping down, and Mr Daley deciding not to run, he was finally elected unopposed in June 2021.

“I don’t want to just play politics, I want to focus on policy,” he told a press pack after the result was announced.

Friendly rivalry with Dominic Perrottet

For determined political rivals, Mr Minns and Mr Perrottet appear to get on reasonably well.

They have each publicly described the other as “good company,” with Mr Minns adding that Mr Perrottet was a “very good dad”.

Mr Perrottet has also complimented Mr Minns’ “great hair”.

Mr Minns told radio station 2GB that one of his sons enjoyed winding him up by discussing the “good points” Mr Perrottet raised when he appeared on television.

“I was telling Dominic Perrottet that my middle boy is this secret fan of his,” he said.

“Next thing, a T-shirt, a Dominic Perrottet T-shirt arrives in the mail. So I have to wake up every second morning with my middle boy wearing a Dominic Perrottet T-shirt around my own house.”

Both leaders described each other as “good company.”(AAP: Bianca De Marchi)His other hobbies

The cool-headed, laid-back style that has become Mr Minns’ signature made for a relatively drama-free election campaign with few gaffes to speak of.

After Mr Perrottet admitted to vaping in a radio interview, he made an effort to showcase his “cool” side with a rendition of AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ on electric guitar.

Much of his time away from the office is spent outdoors — surfing or bushwalking with his family.