David Seymour

Early life

Seymour was born in Palmerston North on 24 June 1983. His family moved to Whangārei when he was a child. He is descended through his mother's father from a Māori great-great-great-grandmother, Maraea Te Inutoto, whose husband was Stephen Wrathall. Te Inutoto was from Tauwhara marae at Waimate North and a member of the Ngāti Rehia hapū of Ngāpuhi. The family's Māori ancestry was discovered through research by Seymour's great-uncles when he was seven years old. Seymour went to Auckland Grammar School and then the University of Auckland, where he graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical & Electronic) and a Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy). He then worked in engineering. During the 2000s, Seymour worked for conservative think tanks in Canada as a policy analyst. These think tanks include the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and the Manning Centre in Canada for five years. These think tanks are linked to the Atlas Network, and Seymour's links confirmed by the former chairperson Debbi Gibbs. Seymour consistently denies links to the Atlas Network.

Early political career

ACT activism and candidacy

Seymour is a long-time member of ACT. He initially got involved through the student organisation ACT on Campus at Auckland University, of which he was president.

Seymour contested three elections before his eventual success in 2014. He first stood for ACT in 2005 in Mt Albert and was also ranked 37th on the party list. He was unsuccessful in the electorate, which was held by Helen Clark, the prime minister at the time, and with 1.51% of the party vote ACT returned only two members to parliament, leaving Seymour out. While living in Canada, Seymour contested the 2008 election for ACT as a list-only candidate, ranked 55th.

At the 2011 general election, Seymour stood for ACT in the Auckland Central electorate, but the electorate was retained by the National Party's Nikki Kaye. Seymour was ranked fifth on the party list, but with 1.07% of the party vote, ACT was unable to return any list MPs to parliament, and John Banks, who had retained the Epsom seat for ACT, was the party's only sitting member.

Path to leadership, 2011–2014

After the 2011 election, Seymour worked as a ministerial adviser for Banks, who was appointed an Associate Minister of Education for the John Key-led National government. Seymour assisted with the development of the government's Partnership Schools legislation. In late 2013, John Banks resigned from his ministerial positions following criminal charges in relation to electoral returns in his bid for the Auckland mayoralty in 2010. In June 2014 he announced he would resign from ACT Party leadership and not contest Epsom in the 2014 election.

In February 2014, at the same time that Jamie Whyte was made leader of the ACT Party, Seymour won the nomination to stand as the party's candidate for Epsom. The electorate had already proven strategically important for ACT. Seymour's selection for Epsom, over former deputy leader and party president John Boscawen, was described by political commentators as the "clean slate" choice and a "fresh face". Seymour was the first confirmed candidate for the Epsom electorate, and at an Epsom public meeting during his campaign he was described as "the most popular with the crowd" and "the star of the night, intelligent, witty and articulate".

During the 2014 election campaign, Seymour released a campaign video online which the ACT Party described as going "viral" after it received around 35,000 views. Seymour said of the video: "I think it was just totally real, we didn't set out to make it funny or make it a viral video, it was just me being me, that combination with rather retro production values ... you wouldn't want to watch it standing up." Seymour was endorsed for the Epsom electorate by Prime Minister John Key, despite Key's National colleague Paul Goldsmith also contesting the electorate.

Fifth National Government

First term (2014–2017)

At the election, Seymour was elected for the Epsom electorate with a majority of 4,250 votes. Jamie Whyte did not win in his bid for the Pakuranga electorate, and Seymour replaced Whyte as the leader of ACT on 3 October 2014.

National returned as a minority government with ACT in confidence and supply in 2014, and Seymour was appointed parliamentary under-secretary to the Minister of Education and Minister of Regulatory Reform on 29 September 2014, as a result of National's confidence and supply agreement with ACT. Seymour was given responsibility for partnership schools, and reforms to the Resource Management Act 1991 and other regulation.

In October 2015, a Labour Party member's bill to make parliamentary under-secretaries subject to the Official Information Act passed its first reading in Parliament. Seymour accused the bill of personally attacking him, and said it was not necessary because under-secretaries did not have decision-making powers. Nonetheless, Seymour was one of 109 members of Parliament who voted in favour of the legislation at its third reading in June 2016.

Contracts in the second round of applications for charter (partnership) schools were completed on 11 September 2014. In January 2016, the contract was terminated for a Northland charter school from the first round, Te Pūmanawa o te Wairua. Seymour continued to support the policy and push for more charter schools to be established.

On 6 June 2015, Seymour confirmed that he was preparing a member's bill known as the End of Life Choice Bill that would legalise assisted dying. This bill was in response to the decision in Seales v Attorney-General that stated only parliament had the ability to address assisted suicide laws. On 14 October 2015, Seymour lodged the End of Life Choice Bill into the member's ballot, launched a website promoting his bill, and released an ACT-commissioned poll of 2800 people showing 66% public support in favour of legalising assisted dying. The bill passed its first reading 76–44 in December 2017 and its second reading 70–50 in June 2019. In the committee of the whole House, support from the New Zealand First party became conditional on a referendum to decide whether the law should come into force. An amendment to require a referendum passed 69–51, and the bill passed its third reading with the same numbers on 13 November. The bill received royal assent on 16 November 2019, becoming the End of Life Choice Act 2019. A referendum was held on 17 October 2020. The vote was held in conjunction with the 2020 general election, and official results were released on 6 November 2020. It was accepted by New Zealand voters, with 65.1% in support and 33.7% opposed.

In Opposition (2017–2023)

Second term (2017–2020)

Seymour was re-elected to Parliament for Epsom in the 2017 general election as the sole ACT Member of Parliament.

On 8 June 2017, Seymour's bill was selected from the members' ballot. The bill was debated at its first reading on 13 December 2017, and passed with 76 votes in favour and 44 against. It was then reviewed by the Justice Select Committee. It reappeared before the House for a second reading on 26 June 2019 and passed, with 70 votes in favour, 50 opposed. An amendment to the bill, which included the requirement that it be approved by a binding referendum before it would take effect, passed prior to its third reading with 63 votes in favour and 57 opposed. The bill reappeared before the House and passed its third reading on 13 November 2019 with 69 votes in favour and 51 votes against.

In an interview on the day of the third reading, Seymour said that he was confident that the public would vote to put the act into law, noting that "there was overwhelming support and it should easily pass the referendum." The act was approved in the 2020 New Zealand euthanasia referendum, which was held in conjunction with the 2020 general election, with a 65.91% of voters in favour of the act.

Seymour was the sole Member of Parliament to oppose the Labour-led coalition government's Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Act 2019, which bans all semi-automatic firearms used during the Christchurch mosque shootings that occurred on 15 March 2019. Although he missed an initial procedural vote on the bill, he still cast a No vote when voting on the actual bill took place with a final result of 119 to 1. Seymour criticised the speed of the government's gun control legislation.

Despite announcing that the ACT party would vote against the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act, Seymour was absent from the vote on the bill's third reading. This allowed it to pass into law with unanimous support, 119–0, drawing the attention of local media.

Seymour supported the Abortion Legislation Act 2020 but argued that "safe zones", which would have established 150-metre protest-free areas around abortion clinics, would infringe upon freedom of expression. Prior to the third reading of the bill on 10 March 2020, Seymour successfully included an amendment eliminating safe zones around abortion clinics. The bill passed its third reading on 18 March, receiving royal assent on 23 March. Safe zones were eventually reinstated through the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion (Safe Areas) Amendment Act 2022, which Seymour supported.

Third term (2020–2023)

During the 2020 New Zealand general election, Seymour contested the Epsom electorate and was re-elected by a margin of 9,224 votes. In addition, ACT won eight percent of the popular vote, winning ten seats in Parliament (with nine on the party list). In the much expanded caucus, Seymour held the specific portfolios of Finance and COVID-19 Response spokespersons, while remaining leader of the ACT party.

Seymour's third member's bill to be debated in Parliament, the Regulatory Standards Bill, was drawn from the ballot in June 2021. It proposed stricter rules around government regulation making but failed its first reading in July 2021 without the support of the Labour government. Following that bill's introduction, but before its defeat, Seymour announced his next member's bill would establish a legislative framework for four-year terms of Parliament.

Following the Delta variant outbreak that began in August 2021, Seymour released ACT's COVID 3.0 strategy, which advocated replacing the government's elimination strategy with a "harm minimisation" strategy that focused on isolating infected individuals and easing border restrictions for travellers from low risk countries. In November 2021, Seymour advocated a regular testing regime for unvaccinated workers instead of the government's vaccine mandate for education, health and hospitality workers.

In December 2021, Seymour opposed the proposed joint Police and Māori iwi (tribal) checkpoints that screened travellers from Auckland heading into the Northland region from 15 December, arguing they would restrict people's freedom of movement. These checkpoints were located at State Highway 1 in Uretiti and State Highway 12 near Maungaturoto through the initiative of former Mana Movement leader Hone Harawira's Tai Tokerau Border Control. Seymour's criticisms were echoed by National Party leader Christopher Luxon and New Zealand First politicians Winston Peters and Shane Jones. In response, Labour's deputy leader and Te Tai Tokerau Member of Parliament Kelvin Davis alleged that criticism of the iwi-led checkpoints was motivated by anti-Māori racism.

In mid-December 2022, Seymour questioned Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during Parliamentary question time, and as she sat down after answering, she was recorded calling him an "arrogant prick" on a hot mic, which meant the remark was recorded in Hansard. Ardern later issued a personal apology to him because, she said, her remarks were now on record. As New Zealand parliamentary debates are televised, the comment also aired on television. The two politicians subsequently joined to raise NZ$60,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation by auctioning a signed and framed copy of the Prime Minister's remark.

Sixth National Government

Fourth term (2023–present)

In the 2023 New Zealand general election held on 14 October, Seymour was re-elected in Epsom by a margin of 8,142 votes. ACT won 8.64 percent of the popular vote and gained 11 seats in Parliament. Following the election, ACT entered into coalition talks with the National and New Zealand First parties to form a new government.

On 24 November, the three parties concluded coalition talks and reached an agreement on policy issues and ministerial portfolios. Seymour expressed confidence that ACT had secured a favourable coalition deal. He told The New Zealand Herald that the Government would announce a 100-day plan that could include repealing some legislation passed by the outgoing Labour government.

As part of the coalition negotiations, Seymour will share the position of deputy prime minister with Peters for the term of the 54th New Zealand Parliament. Peters served as deputy prime minister until 31 May 2025, and then Seymour assumed the office until the conclusion of the term. He is the first minister for regulation, a portfolio he proposed. He was also appointed as an associate minister of education (partnership schools), finance, and health (Pharmac).

In early March 2024 Seymour, in his capacity as Associate Minister of Education, confirmed that the $350 million Government-funded school lunch programme "Ka Ora, Ka Ako" would be reviewed prior to the 2024 New Zealand budget. He claimed there was no evidence that the school lunch programme had improved school achievement and attendance. Seymour cited a 2023 Treasury report which found that 12 percent of lunches (roughly 10,000 a day) were wasted. He has also suggested imposing fines on parents for truancy. The contract was due to expire at the end of 2024. The school lunch programme serves 220,000 students across New Zealand. In response, Porirua College deputy principal John Topp and attendance officer Mose Skipworth defended the school lunches programme and said that scrapping it would lead to an increase in truancy. In response, the Health Coalition Aotearoa sought a meeting with Seymour to argue for the school lunch programme, arguing that scaling back or shutting down the programme would worsen hardship and poor educational outcomes among deprived children.

On 14 March 2024, Seymour visited Freyberg High School in Palmerston North and met with staff members, including principal Graeme Williams, to discuss truancy. Towards the end of the visit, several students staged the haka (posture dance) "Ka Mate" to protest against the Government's proposal to slash the free school lunch programme Ka Ora, Ka Ako and perceived anti-Māori policies. One student waving the national Māori flag also spat near Seymour. Williams condemned the students' behaviour as "totally unacceptable" and said that those responsible would be subject to disciplinary procedures. Seymour said that one or two students failed to respect tikanga Māori/Māori cultural values including hospitality and that the students were being affected by "torrents of information that isn't quite true." Seymour also expressed interest in meeting Freyberg High School students on his next visit. Following a 7,000-strong petition supporting the students, Williams announced that the school would not discipline the students involved in the protest but would instead work with the local iwi (tribe) Ngāti Ruanui Tumu Whakaae, the Ministry of Education, and board of trustees to implement a restorative process to address the incident.

Political views and controversies

Seymour's political views are often considered right-libertarian or right-wing populist. Victoria University of Wellington scholar Luke Oldfield has described Seymour's ACT as combining targeting "‘wasteful spending’ and ‘the racial divide’" into a cohesive populist platform, seeking to simultaneously "wind back policies that enhanced the ability of those identifying as Māori to more effectively participate in the decision-making processes of central and local government" and cut public service expenditure.

Seymour has embraced libertarian social policies during his tenure as ACT Party leader, such as supporting the legalisation of euthanasia, and introducing the End of Life Choice Act 2019. Seymour has been associated with majoritarian views in regards to Māori politics and the Treaty of Waitangi, and under his leadership ACT has campaigned particularly to erode initiatives specifically for indigenous rights. He has emerged as a vocal opponent of co-governance with Māori, and supports raising the retirement age and enacting tax cuts. Seymour has increasingly caused controversy for his outspoken views, which include comparing co-governance with apartheid, opposing Māori vaccination prioritisation, and a joke about sending Guy Fawkes to blow up the Ministry of Pacific Peoples. He is also a proponent of Anglophone interests, supporting stricter English-language requirements for prospective immigrants, opposing bilingual road signs and services to teach public servants the Māori language, and voting for the English Language Act 2026. Seymour has been described as a majoritarian by Stuff, and one who justifies his views in claiming that protecting the rights of minorities through non-elected institutions (such as the Waitangi Tribunal and Te Puni Kōkiri) is in conflict with the majority of the population.

Co-governance

Since 2021, Seymour has been a vocal opponent of co-governance initiatives, a term referring to Māori people and the Crown sharing decision-making. In Parliament, he has opposed Three Waters, He Puapua, the Māori Health Authority and the Rotorua District Council (Representation Arrangements) Bill. He said: "The net result [of co-governance] is that someone who's not accountable to the wider community gets the right to say 'no' because of their birth. It's a recipe for frustration at best and resentment and division at worst." After Seymour proposed to abolish the Ministry of Māori Development, Labour MP Willie Jackson labelled Seymour a "useless Maori" and "that [he] would 'do anything' for votes."

During the 2023 electoral campaign, Seymour advocated for a referendum on co-governance. There was strong opposition to the proposal by those who saw it as divisive. Seymour was quoted as saying, "I think there is a real need for us to have a genuine, high-quality conversation around co-governance."

On 19 January 2024, a draft of the ACT party's Treaty Principles Bill was leaked. It was met with criticism from many Māori political figures, including Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, as well as from academics, such as Michael Belgrave, a historian and Massey University professor, "Anyone who knows anything about this topic wouldn't come up with this policy... [Act] don't have any understanding of the 50 years of Treaty principles debate". Leaked advice from the Ministry of Justice suggested that the bill was "highly contentious" due to "the fundamental constitutional nature of the subject matter and the lack of consultation with the public on the policy development prior to Select Committee".

Paul Goldsmith, the Minister of Justice, subsequently appeared on television to re-confirm prime minister Christopher Luxon's position on the proposed bill, saying that "the coalition agreement is clear that the government will support a bill on Treaty principles to first reading. However, Christopher Luxon has been clear that National has no intention to support it beyond that." Ultimately, the bill was voted down on its second reading on 10 April 2025.

As reported in February 2024, a poll on various matters before the government showed 36% of respondents in support of a referendum "on the Treaty of Waitangi" with 35% opposed, and the rest undecided.

Criticism of hate speech laws

In mid-May 2019, Seymour generated widespread criticism, including from MPs from all of the other parties, when he stated in a radio interview that Green Party list MP Golriz Ghahraman was a "menace to freedom in [New Zealand]." Critics suggested Seymour's association of Ghahraman's support for hate speech laws with suppression of free speech by dictators like Mao Zedong and Adolf Hitler was inappropriate. Seymour argued that he had merely "attacked her views".

Seymour's concern is that the strengthening of hate speech laws is "divisive and dangerous" since the power of the state could be used by the majority to "silence unpopular views". He believes, if the law is strengthened, that what is considered hate speech will become "too subjective" and open to being abused.

Public release of Māori vaccination code

In September 2021, Seymour caused a controversy after releasing a special COVID-19 vaccination appointment access code meant exclusively for Māori people in Auckland to his followers on Twitter. The code was intended for the population that is the least vaccinated and most at-risk for COVID-19 demographic in New Zealand. The code offered priority access for Māori who wished to be vaccinated by Whānau Waipareira (a Māori social services agency) at the Trusts Arena in West Auckland. While the move was supported by right-wing groups, it was criticised by Whānau Waipareira CEO John Tamihere and Seymour was faced with allegations of racism towards Māori despite his own Māori heritage.

Seymour defended his actions, stating that "access to vaccination has been the same for people of all ethnic backgrounds." He alleged that the code was a move by the government that suggested "Māori people have trouble making a booking". He told media that "the virus doesn't discriminate on race, so neither should the roll out."

Ministry for Pacific Peoples remarks

On 17 August 2023, Seymour joked about bombing the Ministry for Pacific Peoples during an interview with Newstalk ZB following revelations about wasteful spending by the Ministry earlier in August. During the interview, Seymour claimed "in his fantasy' he would "send a guy like Guy Fawkes" into the Ministry's headquarters and "it'd all be over", apparently implying he would have it blown up. This was a reference to the Gunpowder Plot, planned in 1605 by English Catholic plotters but foiled at the last minute. ACT has campaigned for the abolition of the Ministry, alongside the Human Rights Commission and Ministry for Women. Seymour's remarks were criticised by Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni and former National Party minister Alfred Ngaro as inflammatory and insensitive towards Pasifika New Zealanders. Te Pāti Māori leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer accused him of hate speech. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins condemned Seymour's comments, 'should be ashamed of himself'. Seymour refused to apologise for his remarks, claiming he was joking.

Someone subsequently filed a Police report against Seymour for his remarks, but no offence was identified.

Links to the Atlas Network

In a 2023 interview with Mihingarangi Forbes, Seymour was questioned about his links to the Atlas Network, an American think tank and policy institute known for its climate change denial. Seymour firmly denounced Forbes' line of questioning and described his supposed connection to the group as a "crazy conspiracy theory". However, during his work for the Canadian conservative think tank Frontier Centre for Public Policy, Seymour was a graduate of the Atlas Networks' 2008 "MBA for Think Tanks" program. A clip of Seymour during his time working for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, in which he spoke with a deliberately acquired Canadian accent, subsequently went viral. In his 2021 Waitangi Day speech, available on the ACT Party website, Seymour also referred to "my old friends at the Atlas Network". Seymour accepts the scientific consensus on climate change, and has denied the ACT Party is contributing to climate change denial after a 2008 ACT party policy under Rodney Hide stated there is "no warming trend since 1970". Seymour said he disagreed with that statement saying "I believe New Zealand is warming".

‘Snapchatting’ minors

In June and July 2024, media reports highlighted that the Seymour had historically exchanged Snapchat messages and "streaks" with high school students starting around 2016, when some of the users were 14 years old. This included sending followers a photo of a condom, dressed-up in full ACT Party branding, along with the message "Be Safe Kids".

Seymour he used Snapchat extensively during the period he was on Dancing with the Stars in 2018. School-aged children would send him messages, including photos of themselves in uniform, and he always responded.

Seymour said he still used it to reply to “serious questions” a few times a month and does not see any issue with directly messaging young people without parental permission or oversight.

School lunches

Seymour shrank the budget for free school lunches, a programme introduced by the previous Sixth Labour Government that he has long opposed. On 8 May 2024, Seymour had launched a modified NZ$234.8 million school lunch programme for the 2025 school year. While the school lunch programme would remained unchanged for primary school students, the school lunch programme for intermediate and high school students would be bulk-purchased by the Government and delivered to schools. During the press announcement, Seymour stated that the bulk-purchased food would consist of sandwiches and fruit rather than quinoa, couscous, and hummus. When asked about food items such as sushi, Seymour said "If you don't get that sushi's woke, then I don't know how to wake you up, but the key message here is that we are introducing the kinds of foods that are put in the lunchboxes of children, the other 75 percent of kids, who rely on their parents to send their lunch." Labour's education spokesperson Jan Tinetti welcomed the retention of the school lunch programme but expressed concerns about changes to the secondary school lunch programme. Health Coalition Aotearoa co-chair Professor Boyd Swinburn questioned the nutritional value of bulk-purchased foods while Dish Magazine editor Sarah Tuck defended the nutritional value of quinoa and sushi.

At the start of the 2025 school year between late January and early February 2025, several schools reported problems with the revised school lunch programme including late or missed deliveries, uncooked food, insufficient nutrition, food wastage, ham in halal meals and a shortage of vegetarian meals. Consequently, several schools were forced to use their own funds to buy meals for pupils. In response to rollout issues and criticism, Seymour apologised for "teething issues" in the rollout of school lunches, which he attributed to operational issues behind delivering large amounts of meals. Seymour accepted the school lunch scheme needed improvements but defended cost-cutting measures as necessary to saving taxpayer money. By contrast, Labour's education spokesperson Tinetti criticised the National-led government for allegedly prioritising tax cuts over proper nutrition for children.

On 27 February 2025, Seymour rejected calls to sack school lunch provider School Lunch Collective and argued that the current school lunch programme was better than Labour's iteration. On 1 March, Prime Minister Luxon said that the school lunch programme was experiencing "teething issues" and said that Seymour "will work his way through those issues... and I expect he will [find a solution]." On 4 March, the Ministry for Primary Industries launched an investigation into School Lunch Collective meals after children were served meals with melted plastic packaging.

Philip Polkinghorne letter

On 9 February 2025, Seymour acknowledged that he had written a letter to Auckland District Commander Karyn Malthus in April 2022 complaining about former eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne's treatment by Police during the course of their investigation into the death of his wife Pauline Hanna. Seymour said that he had written to Police in his capacity as Polkinghorne's electorate member of Parliament. Seymour had written the letter prior to Police charging Polkinghorne with murder in August 2022. On 10 February 2025, Prime Minister Luxon criticised Seymour's letter as "ill-advised" since Polkinghorne was the subject of an active Police investigation at the time. In response, Seymour countered that he was advocating for a constituent and believed that Police had gone "beyond the brief" of their investigation at the time. Later that night, Seymour met with Luxon to resolve their differences regarding the Polkinghorne letter. Seymour's actions were also criticised by Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins, who called for his resignation as a cabinet minister, and Chief Victims' Advisor Ruth Money, who said that Seymour should have raised Polkinghorne's concerns with the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA).

Handling of Tim Jago sexual assault allegations

In early 2025, Seymour was criticised for advising a sexual abuse survivor to contact an employment lawyer instead of the police after being warned that former ACT Party president Tim Jago had sexually assaulted several teenage boys in the 1990s.

Seymour was initially contacted by the victim’s wife about then-ACT president Jago being a “sexual predator” in November 2022, two months before Jago was charged with indecent assault and exited from the ACT Party.

Jago was subsequently convicted of eight charges of indecent assault in 2024.

Seymour denied wrongdoing in his handling of the complaint and suggestions he tried to cover up the complaint.

2025 Land Rover fundraiser

On 10 February 2025, Seymour attracted media attention after driving a 1948 Land Rover up the steps of the New Zealand House of Representatives in order to raise funds for the University of Auckland's Centre for Heart Research's heart valve development programme. The Land Rover had been purchased from Dunedin by the centre's director Professor Julian Paton, who was relocating it to Auckland. A security officer stopped Seymour from completing the full climb and informed him that he did not have permission from the Speaker of the House. During the incident, Seymour said "you shouldn't have to get permission do to every little thing in New Zealand" and said that Members of Parliament should not need to seek permission since Parliament was their workplace. On 11 February, Speaker Gerry Brownlee rebuked Seymour for suggesting that MPs could do as they please at Parliament. Seymour subsequently apologised for his actions in a letter.

2025 Cabinet restructuring proposal

During a speech to the Tauranga Business Chamber on 1 May 2025, Seymour proposed reducing the number of New Zealand Cabinet ministers, describing the current ministerial lineup as "looking bloated and full of meaningless titles." He said: We currently have 82 ministerial portfolios... held by 28 ministers. And under them, we have 41 separate government departments. Something has to change... sure, that might put me and a few of my colleagues out of a job. But if that's the price... then it's worth it.

Seymour has proposed reducing the ministerial lineup to 20 cabinet ministers, with no associate positions except for the Minister of Finance.

On 15 February 2026, Seymour said the that ACT party would campaign on reducing government spending and merging portfolios during the party's State of the Nation address. On 19 February, he advocated merging the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, Ministry for Women, Ministry for Pacific Peoples, Office for Seniors, Ministry of Youth Development and Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry for Māori Development) into the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

Regulatory Standards Bill

In late June 2025, Seymour published several social media posts targeting several critics of his Regulatory Standards Bill, whom he claimed were suffering from a "derangement syndrome." These critics included Mayor of Wellington Tory Whanau, Labour MP Willie Jackson, academics Dame Anne Salmond, George Laking, and Metiria Turei. In response, Whanau and Salmond accused Seymour of breaching the Cabinet Manual and announced they would lodge complaints with the Prime Minister and the New Zealand Cabinet Office. Similar criticism was echoed by Labour leader Chris Hipkins, who said that Seymour's conduct was "unbecoming" of a Minister of the Crown. In response to criticism, Seymour said he was responding to "incorrect statements" and "being playful with them."

In June 2025, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Albert Kwokwo Barume wrote a letter to the New Zealand Government raising concerns about several policies affecting indigenous people including the Regulatory Standards Bill. Barume said that the legislation risked undermining the Government's Treaty of Waitangi obligations and sidelining Māori. In mid July 2025, Seymour wrote a letter dismissing the United Nations' concerns as "insane." In response, Prime Minister Luxon and Foreign Minister Peters criticised Seymour for writing a reply without consulting with his Cabinet colleagues. Following a meeting with Luxon, Seymour agreed to rescind his letter and allow Peters to issue an official response to Barume's letter.

Colonialism

During his address at the political gathering on the eve of the 2026 Waitangi Day, Seymour made remarks defending colonialism in New Zealand. He said: "I'm always amazed by the myopic drone that colonisation and everything that's happened in our country was all bad. The truth is that very few things are completely bad." Seymour's remarks attracted boos and heckling from the crowd in attendance, with the Deputy Prime Minister dismissing his critics as "a couple of muppets shouting in the dark." Later, Seymour defended his remarks about colonialism, saying "it had been more good than bad, as even the poorest people in New Zealand today live like Kings and Queens compared with most places in most times in history." Seymour also defended the failed Treaty Principles Bill and expressed hope that it would become law in the future.

Financial literacy

In April 2026, Seymour proposed giving $500 a year to every Year 11 student to start an investment account. He suggested that the policy could be funded by deducting five percent (or $30 million) from the $600 million annual KiwiSaver subsidy. The cash injection would be accompanied by financial literacy education including assessments each term. Seymour said that "for a relatively modest amount of funding, we could give a generation a practical introduction to saving, investing, ownership and financial responsibility."

Personal life

Seymour appeared on the seventh series of Dancing with the Stars. He competed to raise funds for Kidsline, a youth telephone counselling service. His professional dancing partner was Amelia McGregor. Despite harsh criticism from the judges, he finished 5th.

In an interview in 2021, Seymour said he would love to start a family and would "give up politics in a heartbeat". In November 2024, he announced he had been dating Alexandra Martelli, an Auckland property buyer for the last two years, adding that he was "effectively married to Parliament" which gets in the way of starting a family. They got engaged in 2025.

During the summer holidays in January 2026 Seymour, in his capacity as Deputy Prime Minister, and Martelli visited the libertarian Argentinian President Javier Milei and Argentinian Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno. The two leaders also exchanged gifts and political tips and experiences.

Honours

In late August 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded Seymour the Order of Merit, Third Class for supporting Ukrainian territorial integrity and sovereignty, charitable activity and promoting Ukraine in the world. Seymour was one of 143 recipients of the Order of Merit in 2025, which included political figures from Portugal, Finland, Croatia and the Netherlands.

Electoral history