National MP David MacLeod stood down after failing to declare 19 donations

National’s New Plymouth MP David MacLeod has been stood down immediately from his select committee roles after failing to declare 19 candidate donations.

MacLeod, who held roles on both the Environment and Finance and Expenditure Select Committees, said he had “never, ever” tried to hide donations.

MacLeod received 18 candidate donations worth $168,335 in 2022 when he first became the National Party candidate.

“Because of a misunderstanding that the return was for 2023 only, both the information supplied to the party for my return and my completed return to the Electoral Commission did not include the 2022 donations,” MacLeod said.

“I am extremely disappointed in myself for making this error.”

National MP David MacLeod said he had "never, ever" tried to hide donations. Photo / Mark Mitchell

MacLeod also missed declaring a $10,000 donation in 2023 to which he said: “I am taking responsibility for that ... I am owning up to that.”

MacLeod said he spoke to Prime Minister and National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday, who was disappointed in him.

“I feel very embarrassed,” he said.

He felt the punishment he had received so far was fair. MacLeod said he had assumed the 2022 year donations had already been filed.

He said the error was him signing an incorrect return and it was his job to ensure it was correct.

MacLeod said, ahead of the situation breaking in the media, he contacted the donors, who were disappointed in him but wished him well in getting through it.

National's New Plymouth MP David MacLeod was embarrassed by his mistake. Photo / Supplied

He said he had been generously supported, adding: “I have a lot of supporters... I think I had a total of 44 donations to the campaign.”

Asked about the potential for prosecution, he said that was up to the Electoral Commission.

The error was picked up by the National Party last week as part of the party’s annual consolidation of accounts.

MacLeod immediately conducted a full audit of his 2022 and 2023 expenses and donations.

In the audit process, MacLeod was also made aware of one donation of $10,000 in 2023 which had not been disclosed to the National Party and therefore was not included on the 2023 return.

‘He stuffed it up big time’ - PM

In a statement, Prime Minister and National Party leader Christopher Luxon said MacLeod had failed “to meet the high standards we expect of our MPs”.

“We are taking the matter very seriously. It is imperative that all National Party MPs comply with the law and meet our high expectations,” Luxon said.

“I’ve decided that it is appropriate for David to be stood down immediately from roles on both the Environment and Finance and Expenditure Select Committees.”

Luxon told media that candidate donations are the responsibility of candidates themselves and MacLeod had “stuffed it up”.

“He stuffed it up big time. He’s disappointed in himself and I’m disappointed in him.”

Luxon said removing MacLeod from committees was justified and a consequence of his errors.

National Party leader Christopher Luxon said his MP had stuffed up big time. Photo / Mark Mitchell

He said MacLeod would now be putting his head down and getting to work with a lot of constituency work to do to prove himself to the National Party.

Luxon said he was not aware of any other donation discrepancies within the National Party.

“I want to make sure my MPs comply with the law.”

MacLeod’s original Return of Electorate Candidate Donations, Expenses and Loans document declared $29,268 in donations.

The new return declares $207,662 in candidate donations.

A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission confirmed it had received an amended return which it was looking at and expected to publish today.

The original donation declaration document, filed with the Electoral Commission on February 13, 2024, included seven donors whose donations were received between January and September 2023.

Finance Minister and National deputy leader Nicola Willis said the situation was disappointing and MacLeod “dropped the ball”.

”I know David MacLeod’s disappointed in himself.

”It’s a process I take very seriously, I do always sit down and take a deep breath because when I check that form because I know the consequences of getting it wrong are serious.”

Big mistake but everyone’s human - Labour leader

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Macleod’s errors appeared significant but he didn’t criticise the National MP too strongly.

“Everyone in this place is human, there will be areas where people make a slip-up, they get a deadline wrong.

“This seems a pretty big mistake to make, but that’s really a matter for the National Party.”

Asked what he would do if he was in Luxon’s shoes, Hipkins said he couldn’t imagine any members of his caucus would receive more thna $100,000 in donations and not declare them.

“We’d be celebrating that quite loudly.”

Labour’s New Plymouth candidate and list MP Glen Bennett described the candidate donation declaration process as “pretty straightforward”.

“I find it pretty hard to realise that you wouldn’t be able to find - to forget about - a $10,000 donation, that’s pretty significant.”

Asked whether he believed MacLeod had ill-intent, Bennett wouldn’t answer directly, but said: “The question I guess is where the donations came from and whether they were hidden for any particular reason, I guess that would be the question to ask.”