Younger Labour and National candidates speak out on election tone

Two younger candidates, Labour's Sophie Handford and National's Katie Nimon, have spoken about the tone of the 2026 election campaign, which ends with the vote on 7 November.

Ms Handford, 26, is Labour's candidate for Kāpiti. She said her campaign was committed to rising above negativity and adversarial politics, and to avoiding AI slop, a term for low-quality content produced with artificial intelligence. Ms Nimon, 35, is a National candidate. She said parts of the campaign had been too negative.

The two appeared together on RNZ's Morning Report, a radio programme, on a panel of younger political figures. RNZ reported their comments.

Both Labour and National support a ban on social media for under-16s.

NZ First leader Winston Peters has described this year's election as the worst campaign he has ever seen.

Concerns about artificial intelligence have also come up during the campaign. Research reported by RNZ found that people under 30 are more likely to reject AI-generated images as inauthentic, while older viewers are more likely to accept them. In February, New Zealand's major parties said artificial intelligence must not be used to deceive voters.

A separate survey found that voters think being a politician is becoming more dangerous. Voters also fear that threats against politicians will hurt the quality of candidates willing to stand.

New Zealand holds a general election every three years, and the 7 November vote will decide the next government.