Seymour says ACT vote still grows the right bloc, not a National vote
David Seymour has told ACT supporters they do not need to vote National to "play it safe", saying a vote for ACT still grows the parties on the right. RNZ reported the comments from a public meeting in West Melton, Canterbury, where Seymour addressed more than 200 people.
Seymour said a party vote for ACT still means extra MPs on the right. He said ACT MPs count just as much as extra National MPs, and that the size of the coalition is what matters. He argued that voting ACT would help the coalition go "further and faster" on productivity, regulation, the public service, healthcare and crime.
He described ACT's two missions as keeping Labour out of government and keeping Labour's ideas out of National. Seymour said that if polls are believed, ACT could have as many as 15 MPs.
Seymour characterised some voters' thinking as "I'm going to play it safe. I'm going to give my party vote to National", before arguing that a party vote for ACT still meant extra MPs.
In the latest RNZ Reid Research poll, ACT gained 1.1 points to reach 10.1 percent, its strongest result in that poll since the 2023 election. National was down 1.1 points in the same poll, a direct swap with ACT's gain.
National is telling its supporters not to risk creating an overhang, which is when a party wins more electorate seats than its share of the party vote would give it. The party is also running a two-tick campaign, asking voters to give the same party both their electorate vote and their party vote.
Te Pāti Māori is asking its supporters to vote for its candidates in the Māori electorates and to give their party vote to Labour or the Greens, to grow the left bloc.
Talk of strategic voting, where voters back a party other than their first choice to affect the result, is gaining momentum across the political spectrum in what RNZ has described as a knife-edge race.
Paul Goldsmith has said he is running for the seat seriously this time against his old opponent, Seymour. The Post reported that Seymour said he was not worried about Goldsmith, and that he directed the warning "You can't fatten the pig on market day" at him.
