NZ First List Puts Newcomers Above Sitting MPs
NZ First has put Winston Peters first on its party list for the 2026 General Election. Peters is standing as a list-only candidate.
The list was published on 6 October, according to the party's list document NZ First. Rank counts. Under MMP, the system used in Aotearoa, the party vote decides how many seats a party gets. List order decides who fills those seats if candidates do not win an electorate.
Three former MPs are high on the published top 13. Alfred Ngaro is fifth and is standing in Glendene. Harete Hipango-Brownlie is seventh and is standing in Whanganui. Michael Laws is also high on the list among the former MPs, according to RNZ.
Two newcomers sit directly below them. Craig Stobo, the former Financial Markets Authority chair, is eighth and is standing in Botany. Taine Randell, the former All Blacks captain, is ninth and is standing in Tukituki.
Four sitting MPs follow them. Jenny Marcroft is 10th and is standing in Kaipara-ki-Mahurangi. Andy Foster is 11th and is standing in Remutaka. Dr David Wilson is 12th and is standing in Henderson. Jamie Arbuckle is 13th and is standing in Kaikōura.
That order places Stobo and Randell above Marcroft, Foster, Wilson and Arbuckle. All eight are standing in an electorate and on the list, which keeps the dual candidacy option open.
The broader context here is the party-vote numbers. An RNZ-Reid Research poll put NZ First on 10.6 percent, which would mean 13 MPs. On that result, the current order would bring back all the sitting MPs named so far, as well as the newcomers and former MPs above them. The party won eight seats at the 2023 election. If that polling held on election night, the party could grow and add new faces without losing sitting MPs.
Looking at what this means for caucus management, the list covers three groups in winnable spots. The former MPs bring past experience in Parliament. The newcomers bring public profiles from outside politics. The sitting MPs hold spots that would get them back in on the polled share. A list place does not guarantee entry. It sets the queue if the party vote is high enough.
