NZ First names New Plymouth deputy mayor Murray Chong as candidate
New Zealand First has picked New Plymouth Deputy Mayor Murray Chong to stand at the next general election. The party announced the selection on Friday, 25 September, according to RNZ. Chong is the sitting deputy mayor. He will stand under the party banner.
Chong has been a New Plymouth District councillor for 13 years in a row. He became deputy mayor in 2025. He has stood for the party before, as a New Zealand First candidate in 2017.
He says his campaign rests on two ideas. The first is growing the local economy by bringing back oil and gas. The second is his slogan: "one country, one people, one law, one flag".
That second idea sits alongside his record on Māori wards — council seats voted for by people on the Māori roll. In 2024, Chong abstained, meaning he did not vote either way, when New Plymouth District councillors voted to keep its Māori ward. He was also thrown out of a council meeting after calling a new policy racist.
Chong has spoken about pressure before that Māori ward vote. He said he abstained because he felt fearful. He also said he found what looked like a bullet dent in his ute before the vote, according to Newstalk ZB.
The pick follows talk about the party's interest in Taranaki council figures. Before the announcement, reported speculation had named Mayor Max Brough and councillor Murray Chong as possible New Zealand First candidates, according to The Post. Brough is the Mayor of New Plymouth. The party has now confirmed Chong.
The party has announced Chong as a candidate. It has not yet confirmed his list ranking or electorate assignment. In other words, it has not said where he will sit on the party list or which seat, if any, he will contest under MMP, the proportional system New Zealand uses.
The broader context here is candidate recruitment rather than policy detail. Chong brings sitting council leadership and name recognition in New Plymouth. He is not a new recruit. His run in 2017 gives the party a prior working relationship to build on, and 13 years on council gives him local networks that list-only newcomers — candidates who enter Parliament off the party list without winning a seat — often lack.
Looking at what this means for the campaign, the pairing of messages is deliberate. An economic case for oil and gas sits next to a case for equal treatment under one law. Both fit with New Zealand First's established pitch to provincial voters, and both appeal to voters who feel distant from Wellington decision-making. His abstention and ejection from the meeting are likely to get close attention. His account, centred on fear and intimidation, is something opponents and supporters will read differently.
