David Seymour’s first rodeo: how did he go?

Tuesday, 24 June 2025

David Seymour holds his first post-Cabinet press conference in his role as acting prime minister.

OPINION: It hasn’t taken long for David Seymour to front up in a pretty significant way in his new job as deputy prime minister. Indeed, he is currently acting prime minister and as such turned up to his first post-Cabinet press conference.

And at his first post-Cabinet presser it looked like Seymour was actually a bit nervous. Usually Seymour breezes into any room or in front of any number of cameras very sure about what he is there to do - whether it’s to explain a government policy, lash the opposition, upbraid the media or deliver some jokey one-liners.

This was of a very different dimension. It is in the Beehive theatrette and more formal than other interactions prime ministers have - even acting ones. And the wrong words do have consequences.

Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour said 'I think it'll be very easy for the New Zealand media to want a definitive position right away. I don't think it's in the interests of New Zealand, or frankly, New Zealanders in the region.'

In his first post-Cabinet as deputy PM he walked straight into questions about New Zealand’s position on the US bombing of Iran - one of the most significant international developments in years.

New Zealand currently doesn’t really have a position except that diplomacy and talking is good and bombing and war is bad. Getting that across was crucial. A low bar, but an important one.

Seymour was determined to stick to the script. He repeated the Government’s line about not rushing to judgment and the most he would say was that Iran not having nuclear weapons was also a good thing - but that now was the time to step back and de-escalate.

This satellite picture by Planet Labs PBC shows Iran's underground nuclear enrichment site at Fordo following U.S. airstrikes targeting the facility, on Sunday.

This reflects a view within Government that while Iran having a nuclear weapon is completely undesirable, claims of an Iranian nuclear weapon being imminent have a bit of a whiff of Iraqi WMD claims back in the early 2000s. To this end, New Zealand will keep its head down and see how things unfold.

In an interview with the Sunday Star-Times ahead of becoming deputy PM Seymour revealed his ambivalence about the new job - that it was a big deal but also only one job amongst a number of things he would be doing.

However in watching him on Monday afternoon, he did appear both a bit humbled and nervous about what he had to do. On the international issues, there was no room for any sort of ACT thinks this, but the Government’s position is that. There was just the Government of New Zealand’s view on the matters at hand. He stuck to script.

It comes after a few weeks of grumpiness by the ACT Party leader, especially ahead of the Regulatory Standards Bill progressing through Parliament - and some high profile opposition to it. There is also what he has viewed as unfair treatment by the media - which ACT has sought to remedy by doing their own sort of weird meta docuseries of Seymour meeting with journos behind the camera.

Hearts of Darkness it is not.

Anyway, after the serious business of Iran, the Deputy PM did get a chance to get in a whack at his political opponents, from the Labour Party on regulatory standards to Mayor Tory Whanau accusing him of online harassment in a letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. There were no visible nerves by the end.

Within the Government there has been considerable nervousness about Seymour’s ascension to the second-to-top job. His first outing demonstrated an understanding of what it is, and that party identity gets subsumed into the broader work of Government. He is a professional politician after all.

The rest, time will tell.