ACT’s 2023 List
Act have released their 2023 list. The top 20 are:
- David Seymour – Epsom (nc)
- Brooke van Velden – Tāmaki (nc)
- Nicole McKee – Rongotai (nc)
- Todd Stephenson – Southland (new)
- Andrew Hoggard – Rangitikei (new)
- Karen Chhour – Upper Harbour (+1)
- Mark Cameron – Northland (+1)
- Simon Court – Te Atatū (-3)
- Parmjeet Parmar – Pakuranga (new)
- Laura Trask – Banks Peninsula (new)
- Cameron Luxton – Bay of Plenty (+4)
- Antonia Modkova – Panmure-Ōtāhuhu (new)
- Ash Parmar – Hamilton East (new)
- Toni Severin – Christchurch East (-5)
- Ben Harvey – Selwyn (new)
- Rob Douglas – Tukituki (new)
- Chris Baillie – Nelson (-13)
- Christine Young – Tauranga (new)
- Zane Cozens – Taupō (new)
- Leo Foley – Northcote (new)
This is quite a brutal list ranking for incumbents. Two MPs were not ranked highly enough to accept the list places offered. Two others were demoted to outside the top 10, where they may get back in, but are not guaranteed.
But that is not all. Normally you would see people who just missed out last time, get potentially winnable places. But of those ranked No 11 – 20 in 2020, just one (Cameron Luxton) has been given a top 20 ranking.
If they get the same seats as last time, four MPs will be candidates who didn’t stand in 2020. And if they get 20 MPs, 11 of them will be new ACT candidates.
They have obviously prioritised the party’s greater needs, over loyalty. All parties have that balancing act to a degree, but rarely have I seen it this stark.
ACT don’t do quotas (rightfully) but they have taken care to have a diverse list. It is relatively youthful. In their top 18, there are eight women and 10 men. By ethnicity there appears to be three Maori NZers, two Indian NZers, one Chinese NZer and 12 European NZers.
If there is a change of Government, and they do a coalition with National, then the top five or six MPs would have a reasonable chance of being Ministers. The four existing MPs have struck me as very capable and the two newcomers of Hoggard and Stephenson are the same. Hoggard is a former Federated Farmers President and I know Todd Stephenson from when we worked in Parliament together.
So overall it looks like a pretty strong team for a future centre-right Government.