It was all celebrations at the Act Party’s function on the Auckland waterfront tonight after securing its best result and the icing on the cake being deputy leader Brooke van Velden defeating National’s Simon O’Connor in the blue ribbon seat of Tāmaki.
And on a night when the country swung towards a right-leaning government, Act leader David Seymour said he was adamant his party could work with National.
He had spoken to National leader Christopher Luxon around 10pm.
“We can work together well,” said Seymour, warning that the nation needs to still wait for the special votes for clarity on whether Act and National will be able to form a Government without any help from NZ First.
Seymour says that people are very angry at the Labour Government due to the management of Covid-19, something which he said was shown in the vote.
”New Zealanders have rejected the legacy of Jacinda Ardern.”
Seymour wouldn’t be drawn on what portfolio he would want in a Government, turning the discussion to his campaign promises of turning the economy around and a renewed focus on the Treaty of Waitangi.
Seymour comfortably held the Epsom electorate.
At 9.45pm, van Velden was more than 3500 votes ahead of O’Connor with 60 per cent of the vote counted.
That extended as the night went on, growing to 4262 by the time 84.6 per cent of the vote was counted.
She was welcomed to the celebrations with rapturous applause by supporters. “I really look forward to serving the local people of Tāmaki,” she said.
For O’Connor, it’s the end of the road after 12 years as the MP for Tāmaki - a seat once held by former prime minister Sir Robert Muldoon.
Meanwhile, Auckland Councillor and former National Minister Maurice Williamson thinks Christopher Luxon should pick up the phone to Winston Peters to form some kind of governing arrangement with him – even if National could govern alone with Act.
Williamson knows a thing or two about working with Peters, having been on National’s negotiating team back in 1996 when then leader Jim Bolger cut a deal with NZ First to form a National-NZ First coalition.
Williamson has also been photographed at some NZ First events recently. Williamson told the Herald that despite the Labour “bloodbath” National was on track for a tight majority and would need flexibility.
”The first bit of advice is he’s got to pick up the phone to David Seymour and begin work there,” Williamson said.
”I would always want to try and bring in a third party for a bit of insurance,” he said. ”It may be that there are a number of things that Winston’s party agrees with both ACT and National,” Williamson said.
”Luxon’s got to deal with David Seymour first,” Williamson said, but once that deal was done, a second, looser arrangement could be struck with Peters, which would give National a much more comfortable majority.
He said National might want to offer Peters his old portfolio of foreign affairs.
Earlier in the night on the party vote, Act was sitting on 9.25 per cent, which along with 41.07 per cent for National, gives the two centre-right parties 63 seats in the 120-seat Parliament. Act would get 11-12 seats on current voting numbers.
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Act, whose name comes from the initials of the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers, was founded in 1993 by Sir Roger Douglas and Derek Quigley and, for the first time, will play a key role in government under the leadership of David Seymour, who has been an MP and leader of the party since 2014.
Act’s third-ranked candidate Nicole McKee said the numbers were looking positive given they were up on 2020.
Asked if it was a big relief that NZ First might not be needed to form a government, McKee exhaled a big breath and nodded.
MP Toni Severin is 14th on the party list and would not return to Parliament on current numbers.
Severin said “there’s still hope”, saying she expected the party might get more support from some rural areas which hadn’t been counted.
Another MP Chris Baillie also wouldn’t return on these numbers.
McKee said it would be really sad to see the pair not come back to Parliament.
Act’s 12th list candidate, Antonia Modkova, said she was “absolutely stoked” at the prospect of becoming an MP.
Cameron Luxton, 11th on the list, said he was pleased to see the party had increased its vote from 2020, saying it was all Act could have hoped for.
On possibly becoming an MP, Luxton said he had told his wife that after tonight he would be working as an MP or a builder.
”It looks like I’m going to be an MP.”
The annual event means closures for some lanes on the city's harbour bridge.