The last time Paul Henry tried to become an MP

Tuesday, 14 July 2026

Archival 1999 video captures the historic campaign for the Wairarapa electorate, where trailblazing transgender mayor Georgina Beyer went head-to-head with broadcaster Paul Henry in one of NZ's most memorable political showdowns.

At the 1999 election, Paul Henry stood for National in the Wairarapa seat. But he lost to Labour’s Georgina Beyer who flipped National’s 7867-vote majority by getting 3033 more votes than him. Here’s a look back at a story TV3 did ahead of election day.

The 2026 election won’t be the first time broadcaster Paul Henry seeks to enter the halls of Parliament.

He tried to do it nearly 27 years ago at the 1999 election when he stood for National in Wairarapa, where incumbent National MP Wyatt Creech was going list-only.

Henry’s main opponent was then-Carterton mayor Georgina Beyer, who was standing for Labour and if elected, would become the world’s first openly transgender member of Parliament.

Paul Henry on the campaign trail for National in 1999.

He was confident going into the election, buoyed by National’s 7867-vote majority at the 1996 election and with the electoral boundaries freshly altered to include more rural votes.

TV3’s Whena Owen profiled the Wairarapa electorate ahead of polling day, and her story provides an fascinating insight into Henry’s campaign.

“Oh, hi Paul, you’re the new National candidate?” asks a shop keeper who Henry was dropping a pamphlet to.

New ACT candidate Paul Henry shares his ministerial ambitions, list expectations, and answers the question of how he can relate to struggling average New Zealanders.

“Yes, yes, that’s right,” a youthful(-ish) Henry responds.

He’s seen visiting a farm, shaking hands with a woman next to a motorbike: “How are you? Good to see you again,” the aspiring MP says.

There’s also footage of his then-wife Rachael being a rousie in a shearing shed, throwing wool around whilst wearing a National Party rosette.

Beyer had just released a tell-all biography and Henry spoke about the impact that would have on the result: “Of course the publication of the book has assisted the high profile aspect of one of the candidates”.

As for the focus on Beyer being transgender, Henry responds with this:

“It’s for people to determine the quality of the candidates in this election. Now one of those candidates has an extraordinarily high profile for one specific aspect of her life. Now people have to determine ‘is that enough?’ Is that sufficient for her to warrant their vote,” he said.

Henry with his campaign car and caravan.

Beyer is asked about her book, and if she’s concerned about the focus on her gender.

“Because my life is an open book, because there is nothing to hide out there, they’ve had the warts-and-all story, people are finding it quite difficult to hang something smutty or sleazy or nasty on me. And that frustrates opponents I would expect,” she said.

She also recalled a voter who had changed his vote from National to Labour after hearing Henry talk about her.

“I had a chap delivering bread to a dairy while I was up there rush out after having seen that item on television and said to me ‘You have got my vote’. He said ‘That prick last night on TV and the way he was talking about you, getting down to personal allegations and everything like that just isn’t on.”

The story ended with Henry saying: “National will hold this seat”. Famous last words.