ACT New Zealand
ACT New Zealand, also known as the ACT Party or simply ACT (/ˈækt/), is a right-wing, classical-liberal and conservative political party in New Zealand. It is currently led by David Seymour, and is in coalition with the National and New Zealand First parties, as part of the Sixth National government.
ACT New Zealand | |
|---|---|
| Leader | David Seymour |
| Deputy Leader | Brooke van Velden |
| President | Henry Lynch (acting) |
| Founders |
|
| Founded | 1994 |
| Split from | New Zealand Labour Party |
| Headquarters | 27 Gillies Avenue, Newmarket, Auckland |
| Student wing | Young ACT |
| Ideology | Classical liberalism Right-libertarianism Conservatism |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Colours |
|
| Slogan | "ACT for real change" |
| MPs in the House of Representatives | 11 / 123 |
| Website | |
| act | |
| |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in New Zealand |
|---|
ACT is an acronym of the name of the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers, a pressure group that was founded in 1993 by former National Party MP Derek Quigley and former Labour Party MP Roger Douglas, a figure of the New Right who served as minister of finance under the Fourth Labour Government. Douglas' neoliberal economic policies, dubbed Rogernomics, transformed New Zealand's economy from a protectionist one into a free market through extensive deregulation.
After Labour lost the 1990 election in a wipeout and its neoliberal faction lost influence, ACT was built mostly by Douglas' former party supporters as a new political party for 1996. The introduction of proportional representation gave minor parties a greatly increased chance of getting into parliament. Former Labour MP Richard Prebble unexpectedly won the safe Labour seat of Wellington Central, and served as ACT party leader from after the election until 2004. Under Prebble's leadership the party held nine seats in Parliament. Rodney Hide served as leader from 2004 to 2011. ACT was briefly led by former National Party leader Don Brash for the 2011 election, after which the party caucus was reduced to one seat.
ACT gave support to the Fifth National Government from 2008 to 2017. It is currently led by David Seymour, who became the party's leader in October 2014 and has been an elected MP of the party since September 2014. During the 2017 election, ACT retained its sole seat in Epsom and received 0.5% of the party vote. ACT rebounded in the 2020 election, winning 10 seats with 7.6% of the party vote. In the 2023 election ACT increased its share of the party vote to 9% and picked up an additional seat–the party's best result since its founding.
Young ACT is an associated student wing.