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Saturday, October 7, 2023

Heather du Plessis-Allan: What has happened to David Seymour?

With a week and a day to go voting, you would have to say the biggest disappointment of this campaign is Act.

We have got a couple of polls out today:

The Taxpayers Union Curia poll and the Talbot Mills research poll both have Act in the single digits for the first time in their polling since April.

ACT has been sliding this entire campaign and a lot of it will be because of David Seymour’s performance.

In the debate last night, and in the TV3 minor leaders debate 2 weeks ago he was not flash. 

He was like a robot.

He was too serious.  

The fighting with Winston is getting a little silly and he just over-talked.

He was like AI: you type in a question, hit enter, and it just keeps going for minutes on end 

And it’s a bummer because this is not the David Seymour that we know.

We got used to the guy with the sense of humour, who said the French the coq, who twerked on TV against all advice, who was basically the leader of the opposition for most of the last three years.

Where's that guy gone? 

I think he’s lost his confidence.

Political insiders know that he lost his star staff member, his media advisor earlier this year and I think we expected ACT to sort of stumble a bit after that but not this much. 

On the polls out today, ACT has lost as many as a third of its voters.

I can’t think of a bigger collapse in a vote during a campaign since Metiria Turei blew up the Greens with her benefit fraud admission 

But for the Greens, at least you could blame it on one single bad decision. 

For ACT, it’s baffling, and it’s more like they’ve run out of steam.

Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well he gets my vote. He should be prime minister in my opinion. He just has so much common sense, is such a hard worker and just seems like a genuinely good person, which is such a rarity in politics. I think he would be an even better pm than john key was, given the chance. But david is up against some very evil forces such as the woke cult, and a hard left, almost communist media. The fight with peters seems so overblown. They are both from different parties, so they have to promote their own. That is politics.

Anonymous said...

David Seymour lost my party vote a couple of weeks ago when he threatened to hold national to ransom with his confidence and supply statement.
I like most of what he says and stands for but the rooster just got a bit too cocky.

Anonymous said...

At this crucial point, just one thing matters:
the 3 boys must get along. They owe this to their voters.

mudbayripper said...

I'm still voting Act. David has huge pressure upon him, as do all politicians at this time.
After all, there all human, although I have my doubts about any politician on the left.
David Seymour is not the sort to bend to differing ideologies. I believe his core values are still intact.
After all who else in serious contention is there. Winston? It could be worse.

EP said...

ACT still gets my vote also, but I am pretty angry with Seymour over his continual bad-mouthing of Peters - it's not the disagreement - that's fine - it's the nasty personal remarks that denigrate him far more than they do Winston. How can this intelligent thoughtful man be so stupid? (and his caucus so powerless to control him.)

More understandable, but equally damaging, was his demeanour with Family First. I agree with him but FF were pretty polite (though anti) with him. I guess he might have done better to just refuse the debate.

Frankly I can only see ACT as the hope of recovery for this country. All (most) of the small parties are thoughtful and principled - wonderful- but so stubborn in insisting on their separatism, which makes their cause hopeless. God defend New Zealand.

Ray S said...

The stupid actions of Seymore at the minor parties debate could very well result in a Labour victory.
God hglp us, more of the same.
Why an intelligent man cant see past his own ego is astounding.

Anonymous said...

I have already voted ACT and always 100% behind ACT's desire to implement the policies NZ needs. I also totally disliked David's personal attacks on NZ First. It's like David momentarily became a MSM opinion propagandist. All we want to know is what you would do and perhaps how you will do it. We the people, can figure the rest out. Peter G

Terry Morrissey said...

Seymour is starting to show the same narcissistic tendencies as those in power at the moment. As far as he is concerned it is all about him and if anyone has different views it's his way or the highway. Not only losing in the polls but he is also shedding candidates like a Wiltshire sheep sheds wool. He could also end up as dog tucker.
Used to think there was something to him but his current performance shows he is either losing the plot or taken up consuming mind altering chemicals.

Linux said...

This is only partially relevant but I wish someone would start looking at the covidiocy. What could be more sensational than the strong possiblity that up to 11,000 doctors and health administrators avoided the mandated covid vaccine when Hipkins was minister of health? See the Platform interview of Sean Plunket and Guy Hatchard or on this site.
This could really make a difference for undecided voters. Winston was the only one to listen to the protestors who now look very heroic in their totally just stance.

Anonymous said...

ACT were a mile ahead of the others in producing their budget and they still are the most sensible in tackling co-governance & the economy etc. National absolutely need the backbone in ACT they clearly lack - in both the men and the women! As for Winston, how many times do those out there want to be sucker punched? The old leopard, no matter how suave, doesn't change his spots...

And Heather, you're sounding awfully like the rest of the MSM.

LLinux said...

Sorry correction . It wasn't the Platform it was Reality Check Radio interview of mass exemptions for medical staff, with Paul Brennan interviewing Guy Hatchard this week.

Anonymous said...

Something going on there. David has stayed on topic for 2 years and 11 months.
His and Acts approach has mostly been to promote policy and for the most part common sense in the interests of New Zealand. The last few weeks he has lowered himself into the gutter occupied by most of the other parties. Bad election strategy, self-importance, over-acting, arrogance. Probably all of those. I am not impressed.

Dave said...

ACT and National have both been unbelievably stupid by constantly attacking NZ First. These attacks have taken the focus off the main issues, law and order, economy, Co governance etc and have a left leaning msm relishing in the centre right party's self destruction. Labour, Greens and Maori can't believe their luck when afew moths ago all seemed lost.
MMP means coalitions, like it or not. It's like every marriage, it's all about compromise. ACT, National should of had the brains to at least look for commonalities with NZ First and have worked on that.
As it is they collectively have driven most likely thousands of would be voters away.

bruce Somerville said...

Men vote for policies. Women vote for personalities.

Vic Alborn said...

IMHO: ACT's decline in the polls (and subsequently at the "real" poll), has been due, primarily, to the abdication of previous National voters' support because Luxon finally started to gain traction. Less so because of Seymour's performance. The rise in polling by the Greens has been primarily because of the migration of disgruntled Labour voters who could no longer stomach the Labour Party but could not bring themselves to vote for the centre-right.