Tim Costley calls his time with the royals his “dirty little secret”. For many years, despite having his dream job as a New Zealand Air Force pilot – which took him to war zones like Afghanistan and landed him a stint working as an equerry to Prince William – he had a hankering to pursue a very different line of work.
After keeping quiet for a very long time about what he really wanted to do, he decided to take the plunge. On his second attempt, voters elected Tim to Parliament last year. As the National MP for Ōtaki, he’s delighted to be finally following what he feels has been a calling.
“About 15 years ago, I started to get this niggling feeling that I really wanted to make a difference through politics,” says Tim, 44. “The military was great. You got to help people in a really tangible way in terrible times of need, but I wanted to serve the whole community.
“As an Air Force officer, you serve the government of the day, doing whatever they ask you to. That’s fine, but secretly I had an opinion about this country. I really cared about the direction it was going in. It was like this dirty little secret that I had for a long time. I tried to shake it and think about being an airline pilot one day like all my mates. I just felt drawn to serving in this way.”
Tim first stood for Parliament in 2020 while still in the Air Force, doing his campaigning out of work hours. He wasn’t successful that time, but gave it another shot in 2023. He’s still pinching himself that he has finally become a politician.
“It’s taken a while for it to sink in that this is my job now. It’s hugely humbling. I feel like I have landed.” Tim believes his previous experience in the military will be invaluable when it comes to leadership, and dealing with a wide range of people and situations. His 23 years of service included everything from flying helicopters in Afghanistan, where the base he was stationed at regularly came under rocket fire, through to assisting royalty.
He was chosen to be Prince William’s equerry in 2014 when the then-Duke of Cambridge came to New Zealand with his wife Kate and their baby son Prince George. The role involved travelling around the country with the royals.
My job was to help things run smoothly,” explains Tim. “I did get to talk to them. Prince William and I sat beside each other on the Hercules flying down to Blenheim. We had a bit of a chat. I remember the two of them laughing at me in Queenstown at the Shotover Jet. They found it hilarious that I got completely soaked.”
Kate and William visited the police college at Porirua on a rainy day. Tim looked after their umbrellas as they laid a wreath to commemorate officers killed in the line of duty. He held William’s umbrella over them, but Kate’s was upside down behind him.
“Her private secretary was panicking because the umbrella was filling up with water. She could see me lifting it up and dumping it all over the duchess and her perfect hair! But I got the water out of the umbrella before I gave it back to her and all was well.
“It really was a special experience, working for them, but it was a bit like when you’re an MP. You have to remember that you get these amazing privileges and you get to do some special things. However, what’s really special is the people you are working with, not you.”
As his new career gets underway, Tim is grateful to have the support of his wife Emma, a social worker, and their three daughters Lucy, 15, Rebecca, 13, and Alice, 11. He’s realistic about the impact being an MP is likely to have on family life.
“My eyes are wide open to the fact that there is a cost to us as a family in terms of the time I can spend with them,” he says. “Ideally, I’m going to try to ringfence one day a week for my family.
“I couldn’t do this without Emma – she keeps the ship afloat at home and does a great job. There would be easier options for my family than me going into politics, but I really care about the direction this country is going in. We believe as a family that it’s worth the sacrifice.”
As well as helping his constituents, Tim has a particular interest in being a voice for military personnel and first responders. He founded the Missing Wingman Trust to support families of Air Force members who have been killed or wounded.
“I would really love to be able to support them, but I haven’t come to just do one thing or change one law. It’s broader and deeper than that. I want to influence lots of things in our community and make a difference. It’s a long game for me.”
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