National lost support because it wasn't right-wing enough, du Plessis-Allan argues

Summarised by Centrist

National's election collapse wasn't caused by moving too far to the right, but by failing to move far enough, according to Newstalk ZB's Heather du Plessis-Allan. 

She points to National's nearly nine-point loss in party vote support, while ACT and New Zealand First together gained six points, suggesting voters were looking for stronger right-wing policies than National was prepared to deliver.

Her argument directly challenges outgoing National MP Vanessa Weenink, who lost her Banks Peninsula electorate at Saturday's election.

Weenink said voters had told her they hated National and believed the party had become too influenced by its coalition partners.

She argued National had been dragged too far to the right and admitted feeling partly relieved to be leaving the coalition.

But du Plessis-Allan questioned whether Weenink's experience reflected the wider electorate.

Weenink describes herself as a centrist, previously belonged to Labour, and represented an electorate that had consistently elected Labour MPs since 1999 before her 2023 victory.

Du Plessis-Allan pointed to the national party vote.

National fell from 38.08% in 2023 to 29.21% in the preliminary 2026 results, a decline of almost nine percentage points.

Over the same period, Labour gained approximately 2.5 points, while ACT and New Zealand First collectively increased their support by approximately six points.

She argued this suggested National had failed to satisfy voters looking for more decisive policies, particularly those associated with parties to its right.

However, changes in party vote shares alone cannot establish precisely which parties individual National voters switched to, or their reasons.

Du Plessis-Allan also questioned whether occupying the political centre remained effective.

She described the centre as the "do-nothing space", arguing that New Zealand's problems required more decisive action than political compromise typically delivered.

Du Plessis-Allan argues that National's post-election examination should consider whether it disappointed voters seeking stronger reform, rather than assuming it had become too conservative.

Read more at NewstalkZB

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