Act's David Seymour (left) and Brooke van Velden. Photo / Mark Mitchell
If the Act Party has their way this election, the party will pick up two electorates next to each other in Auckland - but their likely coalition partner National is fighting hard to hold them both.
Currently, Act Party leader David Seymour holds Epsom, the country’s wealthiest electorate in the heart of the Auckland eastern suburbs.
Speaking to On the Campaign, NZ Herald senior writer Simon Wilson said the electorate has been held by Act since former leader Rodney Hide took it, over National’s wishes to hold it.
That then led to several elections where National either directly threw their support behind Act - including in 2011 when then Prime Minister John Key had coffee with John Banks - or had gone soft on campaigning for the seat.
That has seen Seymour go up against National’s Paul Goldsmith, with the two campaigning for the electorate and party vote respectively. Wilson said that has changed this time around.
“This election, they are both going for two ticks. I’ve asked them this in public platforms, and they’ve said it on other occasions.
“As far as Paul Goldsmith is concerned, he would really like to be the electorate MP, it’s been difficult for him, I think, to sit back and watch in that sense.
“And as far as David Seymour is concerned, he’s recognised that for all those people who vote for him, why don’t they vote for his party as well.”
Next to Epsom is the seemingly wealthy seat of Tāmaki, a safe National seat once held by Sir Robert Muldoon and currently held by Simon O’Connor. O’Connor sparked controversy in the last term of Parliament for comments around the US Supreme Court’s move to overrule Roe v Wade and hand decisions over abortion back to individual states.
That has prompted Act deputy leader Brooke van Velden to make a push for the seat, and Wilson said she has a chance to woo more socially liberal voters in the seat to her cause, while her higher profile could also win over voters who want more of a say in government.
“Having been an MP for 12 years, [O’Connor is] not lined up to be in Cabinet, very unlikely to have a senior role in a National-led government, so there is an issue there on if Tāmaki voters would like to have someone who is going to have a senior role if there is a centre-right government.
“Brooke van Velden is definitely that person. As deputy of Act, she will have a Cabinet position if they get to form one.”
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