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This week Coen Lammers talks to budding broadcaster Josh Henderson who has enjoyed a fascinating year, from the commentary booth to the co-driver seat in a rally car and even a seat in Parliament.

It is hard to imagine that Josh Henderson is only 18 years when you hear this eloquent and confident young man speak about his past and his future.

Henderson made headlines earlier this year when he represented the region in Youth Parliament, for no other than Speaker of the House, Gerry Brownlee.

While politics has been a major interest for the youngster from Springfield, his true passion lies in motorsport, behind the wheel, but more specifically in the commentary box, where he has become a familiar voice at Ruapuna Speedway and Euromarque Motorsport Park next door.

Motorsport usually runs in the family, but Henderson says he’s an outlier and got hooked through video games, watching programmes like Top Gear and watching races on television.

Having enjoyed public speaking at school, Henderson took the bold step to offer his services to Formula Ford boss Andy Robertson, who decided to take a punt on the 15-year-old chatterbox.

“He took a gamble on me, and I ended up travelling up and down the South Island all summer providing commentary on the Formula Ford series. It was great fun and I definitely learned a lot that first season,” says Henderson, who soon was invited to use his commentary skills next door at Ruapuna Speedway as well.

“Craig Broomhall was the promotor there and he also gave me a chance and he has been a huge influence on my career so far and I owe him a lot.”

Henderson enjoyed his early education in Springfield Primary before moving to St Bedes College, and this year enrolled into Broadcasting School in Christchurch to create a career in radio and finetune his skills to chase the dream of commentating in high-profile motorsport racing.

“I knew my voice is my talent, so the radio course seemed like a good pathway to advance my commentary. At this stage I am more focused on the play-by-play commentary, but it would be great if that would lead to opportunities on radio as well,” says Henderson who not only talking the talk, but also walking the walk on four wheels.

“At the moment that’s a work in progress and I have started co-driving in a couple of rallies this season,” says Henderson, who counts himself lucky that rally driver Hayden Shakespeare took a chance on a rookie co-driver.

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“The more experience you get, the more opportunities will arrive, but it’s important to get that initial experience first, so I am very grateful for that. We now have to see what the opportunities will be for next season.”

Between all the racing, on and off the race track, Henderson earlier this year demonstrated different oratory skills in Youth Parliament, delivering a keynote speech about the brain drain from New Zealand.

Henderson was selected to represent Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee in Youth Parliament and had visions of sitting on the Speaker’s big chair, but because the current overhang in Parliament found himself sitting on a “dining room chair” next to the Speaker’s seat.

“That was a bit disappointing, and I was a bit sketchy on how I was going to deliver my speech from a dining room chair. Luckily for me, one of the other Youth MPs was unable to attend the second day, so I was able to sit in Mark Patterson’s seat for my speech, which was pretty amazing.”

Henderson became interested in politics through a political simulation game at the age of 13 but was too young to attend Youth Parliament in 2022 and successfully reapplied for 2025.

Despite an incredible experience in the Beehive, the 18-year-old from Springfield is not yet dreaming of a career in politics.

“Maybe when I’m 40.  I think I’m a bit young at the moment. If you look at current trends, you see that voters don’t tend to vote for young candidates, so you really need to find something different before you go into politics,” says Henderson who is rapidly building that different career in motorsport.

Last modified: 12 Jan 2026 9:25am