Battle of the Lloyds: Budd v Burr

Friday, 22 May 2026

I don’t come across too many other Lloyds, let alone one with a last name that’s so close to mine. So who the heck is this imposter? His name is Lloyd Budd and he’s National’s Whangārei candidate. So how does he stack up? He joined me in Stuff’s makeshift pub. And he didn’t disappoint.

The full episode video is embedded further down the article.

When a press release arrived in my inbox on May 2 from the National Party, I did a double take.

“Lloyd Budd selected for National in Whangarei” was the subject line.

I wasn’t the only one to do a double take. I was inundated with messages from other reporters and even National Party staffers saying they thought I’d quit journalism and taken a leap of faith.

Who the heck was this Lloyd Bu** imposter? And what kind of mess and confusion will his being in politics cause for both of us? Will I get all sorts of classified party emails because someone chose the wrong Lloyd? Will I get introduced as Lloyd Budd and him as Lloyd Burr?

This will sound trivial to those with common names who have met plenty of others with near-identical names. But it’s never happened to me before.

That novelty meant I just had to get him onto BYO and find out who the heck this guy is.

The ‘Whoa another Lloyd’ thing is a thing

He’s a greaser - and that’s not a bad thing. I can be too.

“I’ve always looked at that guy, I went ‘That's a talented Lloyd. I've got to live up to that one day,’” he begins, referring to my years on the telly. As I said, greaser!

I have no idea why my mum named me Lloyd. I think she just liked the name. Budd’s name was inspired by the greatest institutions of the British Empire.

“It was because of Lloyds of London. Lloyds has a bank, an airline, and a pharmacy so apparently that was quite a prestigious name, and because I was born in the 80s,” he says.

He’s similar to me in that he talks himself down straight off the bat, questioning why he got the invite to come on BYO.

“My invite is only because we've got a sort of close name. I don't have any credentials,” he says. “It's not like I've got anything to talk about with policy or anything intelligent.”

Come on Lloyd (Budd), have a bit more self-belief than that!

He’s in a safe blue seat

Whangārei’s been a blue electorate for at least three decades, with the exception of the 2020 election when it turned red. John Banks, Phil Heatley and Shane Reti held the seat for as long as they wanted it.

So Budd is pretty much a shoo-in, right? “Definitely not, Lloyd. I respect our delegates, and we're going to work very, very hard for Whangārei. We've got a lot of work to do.”

A diplomatic answer but a nothing answer too, prompting me to point out that if he loses the seat, he will be a complete failure.

“What I will say is I think the landscape of politics is changing, and I think it's important for Whangārei and for the National Party that we work hard, not just for our seats, but for our party vote to get that right balance in the coalition as we go into any second term,” he replies.

Have I missed something? Have a whole lot of lefties moved to Whangārei and made the seat one that could swing this year? He answers with some political waffle about MMP, the party vote, and the coalition.

Why Whangārei?

It’s his tūrangawaewae. He was born there and grew up there. His grandfather was a doctor at Whangārei Hospital for 30 years.

“He was one of two doctors at the hospital from the 50s through to the mid 80s, so if you were born in Whangārei during that time, there was literally a 50% chance that my granddad was your doctor,” he says.

Rugby’s in his blood too. His dad played for North Auckland in the 1980s, and his brother Dean played for Italy at the Rugby World Cup in 2019 (and even captained the side during pool play).

“I actually met my wife at a rugby function in Whangārei, which is wild to think. And it was my mum who introduced us,” he laughs.

His dad worked for a big brewery and moved to Palmerston North in the 90s, meaning Budd went to high school there.

At the end of his high schooling, he gave a speech at a scholarship conference that just so happened to be attended by John Bayley, the boss of real estate company Bayleys. It changed the course of his life.

‘I kind of just stupidly said ‘I'm going to go into politics’’

Budd was on stage in the year 2000 to receive a scholarship for university and he gave an acceptance speech.

“I was on the stage, and you sort of say, ‘Hey, thanks for the scholarship, this is what I'm going to do with it’ and I kind of just stupidly said, ‘I'm going to go into politics,’” he recalls.

“I walked off the stage and John Bayley introduced himself and said, ‘Hey Lloyd, I'm John Bayley,’ and I said, ‘That's great. What do you do?’ He replied: ‘I'm the chairman of Bayleys,’ and I said, ‘Well that's great, what do they do?’” he reveals.

That somewhat awkward interaction kicked off Budd’s career in property. He worked for them on and off while at university, and within a few years he had his own franchise. He then became the CEO of Bayleys Auckland, which he says was “more good luck than good management”.

Meeting John Key in 2007 and, more recently, working with Paula Bennett helped seal his decision to go into politics, just as his 17-year-old self had announced all those years ago.

“There’s quite an alignment between real estate and politics. What we do is very similar, and you've got to build a brand. Who are you? What do you stand for?” Budd begins to explain.

I interrupt him and say: “And because you’re both good at lying?” Cue a defence of the real estate industry, the hard graft all the agents do, and how most of them genuinely care.

Is Bayleys funding his campaign? Budd says it’s too early in the piece to have had those discussions.

‘We should Think Big’

A few years ago, Budd gave an interview to The Post and said: “I'm a big believer that we need much more housing supply to make us a better country. We should think big, take out some debt, and just do it.”

Does he still believe that, given the party he’s standing for is part of a government that would blast the idea of ramping up public debt to build houses to make New Zealand more egalitarian.

“I don't think that’s fair. I think we’ve been handed a situation that’s made some of those decisions quite tough,” he says.

“I don't think it's quite fair to say we don't want to take on debt or we don't want to progress housing or social development. There is quite a harsh reality you've got to deal with. You can't just fairy dust this stuff up,” Budd explains, sounding like a politician already.

He sounds a bit like Cunliffe’s 2014 ‘Vote Positive’ campaign

Get the stool because Lloyd Budd is about to climb on his high horse and be a politician that rises above the politics.

“I'm not going to be a politician that stands on this sort of mud-throwing, disagree-with-everything negativity,” he says, somewhat idealistically but quite refreshingly.

“We have to offer a vision for the future. We do have to offer what is next. Because there is no point looking back.”

Then comes the bit that reminded me of Labour’s 2014 campaign: “My mission is to run a fun, positive and inclusive campaign. We're setting up a campaign office. We've got a working bee this weekend, that'll be our mission statement on the wall.” Strewth.

Does he want to be prime minister?

This is a cruel question. Say yes, and you’ll have a target on your back when you’re in caucus, with other MPs trying to keep you in your place and keep a lid on your ambition.

But say no, and you’ll come across as lacking ambition and not wanting to be the leader your supporters elected you to be.

Budd didn’t do a bad job answering, though.

“I think the opportunity to be part of a leadership group of this country is something I would love to be a part of,” he begins.

“It's a really hard answer because there's a timing thing, there's the quality of who's in your caucus and who's with you and your coalition partners,” Budd adds.

“I would love to be able to offer a leadership contribution to a future government. It's not now, it's far from where I am. I've got so much to learn, but if that is part of a team, it would be an absolute privilege to be a part of it,” he says.

Then he gets back to his National Party talking points: “It's not why I'm here. It's to contribute first and foremost to a strong National outcome in November.”

Is there a portfolio he would quite like? Yep: education and/or housing.

His idea that’ll knock my socks off?

Every guest is asked to come with an idea that will knock my socks off. Some have been great, others not so much. Lloyd Budd’s was definitely on the side of the latter because it was more of an idealistic rambling.

“I think my vision, my goal, my mission to start in politics is to be an inclusive leader, a positive leader, and I think that I don't know what that one idea is that particularly knocks your socks off, but it's probably more of a philosophy or values that I want to take into my career in this field to work across the House with everybody to represent New Zealanders proudly and make some progress for us.”