Politician Watch: Seymour Tries To Take Out Winston Peters

Friday, 4 August 2023, 11:25 am
Article: Scoop Election Podcast

ACT Leader David Seymour’s mask of being a cheerful chappie that likes the odd twerk slipped completely in early August 2023.

While being interviewed by the Platform’s Sean Plunket Mr Seymour showed that rather being the friendly face of neo-liberal Roger Douglas revival politics’ he was in fact a rather tetchy individual. After telling the Platform’s host Sean Plunket that he was getting his ‘hair on fire’ in one of a number of angry exchanges Mr Seymour then went on a diatribe about the Rt Hon Winston Peters.

David Seymour on Winston Peters: The Platform 3 August 2023

“You are not going to sit around the Cabinet table. I think what would likely happen is there would be a coalition between ACT and National sitting around the cabinet table and then the message for Winston Peters would be ‘well mate, no-one trusts you. We can’t work with you. You said you weren’t going to put Labour into power so why don’t you just sit over there and get on with your life or whatever you want to do with it.”

Between 2014 and 2020 Mr Seymour was a caucus of one with much less than one percent support in opinion polls.

Now, less than three months out from the 2023 election David Seymour has taken it upon himself to rule out working with New Zealand First in any future government after the election.

Mr Seymour told National Leader Christopher Luxon that he should also rule out New Zealand First.

Mr Seymour and ACT have nowhere to go if National choose to ignore their advice as ACT will never support a Labour government.

Should the election throw up the numbers that mean National needs New Zealand First they could simply do what Helen Clark did in 2005.

In 2005 The Helen Clark Labour government worked with Winston Peters and shut the door on cabinet positions for the Greens who had nowhere to go as they were never going to support a Don Brash led National Government.

For those wondering just what working with David Seymour would be like the interview with Sean Plunket recorded on 3 August 2023 shows it would be very much ‘my way or the highway’ government.

Mr Seymour considered an important reason for ruling Winston Peter’s out was the ‘serious fiscal reforms’ he told Sean Plunket he intended pushing through. Mr Seymour suggested Mr Peter’s would ‘jump up and down about these [reforms]’.

Before the election it will be interesting if Mr Seymour could explain these ‘fiscal reforms’ to the general electorate that will cause such angst. It’s possible Mr Seymour may not be riding as high in the polls as he is now once he outlines ACT’s economic prescription.

Link to the Full interview between Sean Plunket and David Seymour:

David Seymour gets touchy about Winston Peters

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