Provincial MPs could have a larger say in the next government after National won 31 of its 42 seats outside Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
Veteran political journalist Richard Harman said a senior National strategist complained to him after the election that it was “now going to be a provincial party”. Harman said that second-term MPs such as Grant McCallum, Suze Redmayne, Mike Butterick and Miles Anderson gave National the rural lobby and would be “quite a force”.
The electorate map showed National winning almost every seat outside the cities, from Northland to Southland. Labour won 19 of the 64 general electorates, all in or around Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Palmerston North. “We’re basically blue through the country,” senior National MP Mark Mitchell said. Harman said National “knows it’s failing in the cities”.
Employers and unions have already picked their preferred replacement for Finance Minister Nicola Willis, who is out of Parliament. The left-leaning Council of Trade Unions wanted Labour finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds, while Alan McDonald of the Employers and Manufacturers Association expected National campaign chairman Simeon Brown, “a safe pair of hands and a known quantity”.
Outgoing Speaker Gerry Brownlee, who will leave Parliament after 30 years, said the campaign that Brown ran was “too negative”. He raised the issue with party headquarters, but officials “had various reasons for it”. In an email to members, National Party President Sylvia Wood claimed the election result made National “one of the most successful centre-right parties in the world in recent cycles”.
Meanwhile, in the UK, the hosts of online commentary channel Lotus Eaters said “well done New Zealand” for boosting ACT and NZ First, which they expect to pull National further right. The commentators wanted NZ First to take over the ministries left by Willis and Transport Minister Chris Bishop, calling the party “undoubtedly the best choice” in New Zealand’s system.
Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong said she and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon bonded over their backgrounds in the private sector, sustainability and business when they met for an hour on Monday. She said she would talk to National first and turn to Labour only if negotiations stalled. Opportunity founder Gareth Morgan said the party would be “nuts” to pick either side and should stay on the crossbenches to “hold an auction between Left and Right”.
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