Kingmakers' Debate: small parties open the 2026 debates
Six leaders from the smaller parties met on the night of 1 October 2026 for the first minor-party debate of the election campaign.
The event was billed as The Kingmakers' Debate and was hosted by The Press and Stuff Stuff. Stuff Political Editor Jenna Lynch chaired the discussion. RNZ opened its live file at 7:20pm and provided live updates from 7:30pm RNZ.
Those confirmed included Chlöe Swarbrick for the Greens, David Seymour for ACT, Winston Peters for New Zealand First, Qiulae Wong for Opportunity, and Te Pāti Māori Stuff. Wong is the leader of the Opportunity Party. Under MMP no party usually wins enough seats to govern alone, so the line-up put current and possible coalition partners on the same stage, in front of the same chair, at the same time.
Around the debate, National and Labour sparred over how Chris Hipkins' party would pay for its election promises RNZ. Nicola Willis said National needs a surplus before thinking of any tax cuts. A surplus is when the Government spends less than it collects. One side pressed on funding. The other stressed restraint.
The minor leaders' debate is one of several debates scheduled. The 1News Leaders Debate will bring Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins head-to-head in prime time for the first time in the campaign. Separately, the NZ Herald and Three will deliver three major, live, unedited debates across consecutive weeks in October NZ Herald, with Ryan Bridge to host that series.
The broader context here is that minor leaders' debates rarely turn on fine policy detail. They test whether leaders can hold a line while taking fire from rivals and the chair. For staff in the room, the transcript matters less than discipline. Short answers travel. Long explanations do not.
In my view, the Kingmakers billing is doing specific work. It tells viewers these parties expect to decide what happens after election night. That frames every exchange as a coalition signal, whether leaders intend it or not. The risk is overreading a single answer. The value is watching who leaves room to move and who closes it off.
Looking at what this means for the next fortnight, timing is part of the story. Putting six minor leaders on first, before Luxon and Hipkins meet, gave the smaller parties a clear run. It also fixed the fiscal questions the majors must answer. Labour was pressed on paying for promises. National ruled out tax cuts before surplus. Those positions will follow both leaders into prime time.
For practitioners, the next test is repeatability. Three Herald-Three debates across consecutive weeks leave little room to reset. A line used on 1 October can be replayed in week two and week three. Expect chiefs of staff and whips to count unforced errors more closely than applause lines. That is often where these campaigns tighten or loosen.
