The cussing character that may become the PM’s latest curse

Wednesday, 15 July 2026

The former broadcaster has thrown his hat in the ring for the general election.

ANALYSIS: “Electable” and “respectable” were possibly not two words one would connect with a man who had to resign as a Breakfast host after mercilessly, and some would say racistly, mocking an Indian politician’s name.

But politics is full of surprises and the latest one is ACT leader David Seymour endorsing Paul Henry as effectively his next MP-in-waiting.

This surprise comes with a promise of many more. No one knows what Paul Henry will say next - and that is part of his appeal.

Henry is one of a kind. He is quick witted, deeply confident in his beliefs, deeply confident in communicating them, and, well, deeply confident. He’s already measuring up the curtains for a ministerial office.

He gets away with outlandish and outrageous comments thanks to his trademark cheeky cackle. He is one the most recognisable names in New Zealand broadcasting.

Even Seymour was clearly a little starstruck as he stood next to his star candidate.

Broadcaster Paul Henry has been revealed as the ACT Party's newest candidate. Leader David Seymour introduced him at an Auckland press conference, while the Green Party dismissed the small-screen veteran as another 'shock jock'.

And that is a gamechanger for ACT.

The party has flatlined of late, stuck in a polling rut as New Zealand First capitalises on voter disgruntlement.

In the 2018-2023 era, Seymour hogged the right-leaning spotlight, churning out hot takes, one liners and stunts daily and capturing a sizeable chunk of voters turned off by National’s in-fighting and lack of focus.

ACT’s polling peaked at around 14% ahead of the last election before Seymour lost steam in the election campaign. This term the party has stagnated around 7-8%.

The one thing that ACT has been lacking this year is attention. Seymour does the heavy lifting on this front for the party.

But since becoming deputy prime minister, he has taken on a slightly more statesmanly tone - in comparison to his ‘reply-guy’ style of the previous five years.

While that may be a decent strategy to quell the concerns of a public jittery about stability of government in a deeply unstable world, it is a strategy which has won ACT no favours in the polls.

Henry gives the party an outspoken, media-savvy attack dog with enough name recognition to capture the public’s attention.

Where other high profile candidates have made a big splash on entry but failed to retain any of the momentum, Henry has the potential - if utilised to full capacity - to get ACT back in the spotlight and front of mind for voters.

In his 25 minute press conference announcing his candidacy, he managed to give Labour a clobbering, take a swing at the National Party, propose a multi-billion-dollar cancer hospital and refer to his potential future colleagues as “twats”.

In any other polling landscape, National could ignore him. But as it stands, one coalition partner has already carved off an uncomfortable portion of their vote, and now there is the potential that the voters who were drawn back to the blue mothership might see some promise and intrigue over on the pink team.

Succession is another problem for ACT. Seymour isn’t done, but if he was, the MP he had been hoping would succeed him as leader, Brooke van Velden, quit earlier this year.

You could almost see the panic on Seymour’s face when Henry mused about spending just the next three years in Parliament, the ACT leader clearly wants him to stick around longer.

After rebuilding the party from a one man band, leaving it in hands that will not allow it to wither away is important to Seymour. Henry is a firebrand capable of keeping ACT in headlines. Of course, that comes with risks.

The ACT caucus is one of the most disciplined on precinct, having a candidate not afraid to express opinions on a whim may ruffle a few caucus feathers.

While it's questionable whether celebrity candidates can really shift the dial for voters, even boosting ACT a couple of points at the expense of the Nats would be devastation stations for Christopher Luxon.

At 28.7% in the latest RNZ Reid Research poll, there simply is no more meat on the bones to carve.

National has bedded in low heading into the election campaign. A 30 is a good result for them these days. That is a terrible place to be.

If the Reid Research poll results were realised come election day, the leverage the smaller parties have would be immense.

National currently makes up 71% of the MPs on the governing parties, ACT 16% and New Zealand First 12%. The cabinet spots each party holds is relatively reflective of that - National has 14 of 20, and both ACT and New Zealand First have three a piece.

Translate the seats they’d all receive in this latest poll into cabinet spots like that and National would have to give up two spots to New Zealand First - only leaving it with 12 of the 20 cabinet ministers. ACT up a few, National down a few and the natural party of government gets closer to only making up half of the cabinet.

On the face of it, they’re small shifts but that is a dramatically different looking government. And a dramatic realisation for National ministers to come to.

So Christopher Luxon should enjoy his holiday in Hawaii this week - because when he returns, he will need to convince his colleagues that their cabinet seats won’t be nicked by the cheeky, cussing new ACT candidate.