David Seymour

He has been Deputy Prime Minister since 31 May 2025 and Minister for Regulation in the National-led coalition. He is named in the race for Prime Minister of New Zealand in the 2026 election.

Career

Born in Palmerston North in 1983, Seymour studied at the University of Auckland, worked in engineering, spent time with Canadian conservative think tanks and was a ministerial adviser to John Banks from 2011 to 2013. After unsuccessful candidacies in 2005, 2008 and 2011 he won Epsom in 2014 and became ACT leader that October. He was ACT's only MP until 2020, when it won 10 seats; it won 11 seats with 8.64% in 2023. His End of Life Choice Bill became law in 2019 and was approved at a 2020 referendum with 65.1%.

Positions

Wikipedia describes ACT as right-wing, classical liberal and right-libertarian. Its policies include a tough stance on crime, lower taxes, property rights, scepticism of climate regulation and repeal of the Zero Carbon Act, and proposals to abolish the Māori electoral seats. It also backs same-sex marriage, euthanasia and abortion access. Seymour opposed co-governance, and his Treaty Principles Bill was defeated in April 2025.

Summarised automatically from the linked sources. Wikipedia · Wikipedia

Photo: Doug Mountain, CC0, Wikimedia Commons (cropped)