Disclaimer: the writer of this article is a current member of the New Zealand Labour Party and was a member of the trade union movement when working there.
The new year has begun and brought with it the political parties of New Zealand preparing for the upcoming general election; announcing policies, defending records, and ruling in or our potential coalition partners. So, if you haven’t been paying attention, here is a rundown of the major parties in the runup to the 2026 General Election.
The National Party is the major party in NZs governing coalition. The party falls in the centre-right and is led by Christopher Luxon, the current prime minister. National broadly perceived as weak, allowing their coalition partners to run the show, with Luxon not demonstrating great leadership potential. National have slipped down to 31.9%, down by 0.6 points, according to recent polling published by RNZ-Reid Research. The finance minister, Nicola Willis, managed to crash the NZ economy quickly after coming into office and it has only begun to recover after 2 years. Chris Bishop, the only effective National minister, reportedly tried to roll Luxon late last year but failed to get support from National’s hard-right ‘Taliban’ faction. Their success in this election will be determined on how well they persuade New Zealanders that the coalition’s problems weren’t their fault.
The Labour Party is the main opposition in NZ; it is a centre left, trade-unionist party led by the third Chris in this story, Chris Hipkins. Hipkins is a former PM having taken over from Jacinda Ardern after she stepped down in January 2023. He is considered further left than Ardern, but then so is the rest of the party. Labour’s principal strategy this election cycle is to copy policies from the Australia Labour Party in hopes of replicating its success. This may work, but Luxon is no Peter Dutton (former leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, opposition to the Australia Labour Party). NZ Labour aren’t currently in government so the results of this remain to be seen. One of its key goals if it gets into government will be to restore Crown-Māori relations after the damage created over the past coalition period. While current polling has Labour on track to form the next government, its proposal to introduce a capital gains tax may sink their chances, as many Kiwis don’t want their primary investment to be taxed.
The ACT Party is the first of the two minor parties in the coalition. The conservative and right-libertarian party is led by David Seymour and his deputy Brooke Van Velden (a woman who once said to my politics course at Victoria University that she developed her political policy from an introduction to economics course and that’s all people needed to understand how the economy works). Behind the Treaty Principles Bill and the similar Regulatory Standards Bill (which every other party has pledged to repeal after the GE), ACT are the only explicitly anti-Māori party, notably being the only one not to engage with major events in the Māori cultural/political calendar. Supposedly libertarian Seymour once threatened to repeal the affiliation of their youth wing over advocacy for drug discrimination. Very much a ‘Vegemite’ party, their success will depend on how well they have appealed to their base over the last term. In the most recent polling, ACT was up 0.4 points, coming in at 7.6%.
NZ First is the second of the minor parties in the coalition and is led by Winston Peters. In NZ there are three constants: Death, Taxes, and Winston; having been in government more than any other party since the introduction of MMP in 1996. Right-wing culturally and interventionist economically, NZ First have pushed to promote mining and were the main force behind the repeal of NZ’s oil exploration ban. In a more bizarre moment from the last three years, associate Health Minister Casey Costello fought to remove taxes on heated tobacco products to help people stop smoking, effectively handing a tax cut to Phillip Morris International, the only producer in NZ. The discovery in 2024 that the tobacco company specifically targeted the party for more favourable regulation was brushed off by Costello. Polling from January 26th had NZ First climbing to third place in the polls, behind Labour and National. Depending on the results of the election, NZ First will either have the ability to choose whether Labour or National run the country (who offers Winston the largest concession) or prevent Te Pāti Māori from getting into a Labour-led coalition government. Expect any coverage of coalition negotiations to feature them heavily.
The Green Party is currently the second largest opposition party. Comparison to either the Scottish or UK Greens would do them a disservice, as while a left-wing party, the Greens have repeatedly worked with parties across the political spectrum to achieve meaningful climate legislation. During the period of Labour’s majority government, former Green Party co-leader James Shaw remained Climate Change Minister due to the regard he was held in. Led by Marama Davidson (one of the few MPs to rent and therefore speaking for 34% of the population) and Chlöe Swarbrick, they offer a policy platform that is broadly to the left of what will be in Labour’s manifesto, but that will be less radical economically than the policies the left of the Labour Party would like to offer. Having an almost symbiotic relationship with Labour, they will be a key partner in any Labour-led coalition pushing them left and ensuring meaningful action on climate is taken.
As the name suggests, Te Pāti Māori campaign for Māori interests as they see them. While they have been in coalition with National previously, it is unlikely to happen at this election as they were punished electorally for it and their current iteration is a response to that backlash. Notable actions from them include an ‘intimidating’ Haka in parliament, where three MPs were suspended. The past year has also seen a great deal of inter-fighting, with two MPs being suspended on spurious grounds and the co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer being accused of being dictatorial. Their policies have repeatedly gotten them in trouble, as well as their social media comments, which have led to wide allegations of racist rhetoric. After the election they may form part of a Labour-led coalition, and are polling around 3% at present.
