News Briefing Top 20 for 22 October 2026
1. Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): CEOs back Luxon over Hipkins on economic growth (paywalled)
The Herald’s annual Mood of the Boardroom report and survey is out. Asked who had the strongest capacity to drive growth as Prime Minister after the election, 65% of CEOs in the Herald’s Mood of the Boardroom survey backed Christopher Luxon and just 3% Chris Hipkins. Luxon leads on integrity (3.6 out of five against 2.7) and, by the widest margin, sound economic management (3.5 against 1.86), but Hipkins scores 3.23 for political management skills, well ahead of Luxon’s 2.31. They rated their confidence that Luxon would lead National for a full term at just 2.27, with 34% giving the lowest possible score.
2. Bill Bennett (Herald): CEOs deliver mixed verdict on Christopher Luxon (paywalled)
Christopher Luxon scores 4.31 out of five for promoting New Zealand business internationally, driven largely by the India free trade agreement, but just 2.52 for his overall political performance as Prime Minister, Bill Bennett reports from the Mood of the Boardroom survey. CEOs rate him 3.2 for delivering on the Government’s economic plan and 3.14 for managing coalition partners, but lower for setting a bold ambition and selling it (2.96), building confidence with business (2.86) and leading a cohesive Cabinet (2.66).
3. Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Erica Stanford rated Government’s top Cabinet minister, Luxon stays outside top 10 (paywalled)
Erica Stanford has again been rated the Government’s top-performing Cabinet minister, with 56% of Mood of the Boardroom respondents rating her ministerial performance as “very impressive”, ahead of Todd McClay (38%) and Mark Mitchell (34%), while Winston Peters slipped from 23% in 2025 to 13%. Christopher Luxon again sits outside the top 10, though Nicola Willis returns in ninth place. Rating the Government since 2023, CEOs scored trade highest at 4.42 out of five, and addressing climate change (2.42) and supporting Māori and Pasifika aspirations (2.21) lowest.
4. Andrea Vance (Post): Christopher Luxon at odds with his own voters over Opportunity rule-out (paywalled)
A new Post/Freshwater Strategy poll finds 57% of National voters believe Christopher Luxon should abandon his rule-out and seek an agreement with Opportunity if he needs its support to remain in power, with just 35% wanting him to stand firm, reports Andrea Vance. Majorities of Act (56%) and NZ First (51%) supporters agree, but 80% of Opportunity voters would prefer the party to back Labour. Opportunity’s support also looks soft, with 23% of its voters deciding only in the past few weeks, compared with 9% of National and Labour supporters.
5. Harriet Laughton (Post): Labour cranks up ad spend as campaign hits final stretch (paywalled)
Labour spent $135,000 on digital ads in the past week, more than eight times National’s $15,820, according to The Post’s analysis of Google and Meta data. Around $33,000 went on a single YouTube attack ad, Don’t Risk 3 More Years, more than double National’s total spend for the week, with the Greens ($25,166), NZ First ($24,758) and Act ($22,000) next. Harriet Laughton also reports who parties are targeting, with Labour focused on renters, first-time property buyers and apprentices, and Paul Henry appearing in every Act video ad.
6. Andrew Geddis (Spinoff): What happens if this tight election delivers a hung parliament?
Andrew Geddis explains what would happen if the election delivered a hung parliament, with 60 seats for each bloc, as one reading of this week’s 1News/Verian poll suggested. He says the chance is negligible, given likely overhang seats and because he knows no-one who believes Christopher Luxon will stick to his Opportunity rule-out. In a true deadlock, the incumbent would continue under the caretaker convention while parties negotiated, and a new election might eventually be needed. Geddis notes the 2023 Independent Electoral Review recommended an uneven number of seats.
7. Rawiri Taonui: Record Māori roll tops huge decline in Māori on general roll
Rawiri Taonui says Electoral Commission figures show the Māori roll has reached a record 315,933, contradicting Winston Peters’ claim that the Māori seats have “passed their use by date”. The Māori roll is now 54,344 higher than Māori on the general roll, where Māori enrolments are down 15,113 since 2023, as the Māori Option and new enrolments favour the Māori roll. Taonui says current numbers should trigger an eighth Māori electorate, but calls youth enrolments on the general roll, 9,892 lower than in 2023, a genuine concern.
8. Tim McCready (Herald): The missing ingredient in Election 2026: A vision for New Zealand
Dentons New Zealand chairman Hayden Wilson says the biggest thing missing from the election campaign is a sense of where either major party wants to take the country, Tim McCready reports. Wilson says both major parties are campaigning on a variation of “we’re not the other guys”, which he believes is probably the primary driver of the rise of minor parties such as Opportunity. He also sees social cohesion as one of the biggest issues facing the country, describing the Treaty Principles Bill as a completely unnecessary distraction.
9. Janet Wilson (Post): Voters should resist fatigue brought on by dreary choice we face (paywalled)
Janet Wilson, who has worked in communications including with the National Party, argues many voters are suffering from what she calls Political Fatigue Syndrome, as both Chrises practise fear-mongering over aspiration and hope. She questions the earlier enrolment deadline, noting just over 66% of 18-24-year-olds were recently enrolled compared with 76.7% at the last election, and says National has attempted to “queer the democratic pitch” while Labour and the Greens objected belatedly. Wilson urges people to vote, arguing low turnout benefits conservative and incumbent parties.
10. Jonathan Ayling (Herald): We trust citizens to choose a government. Surely they can enrol (paywalled)
Jonathan Ayling, an Act supporter and donor, argues the outcry over the earlier enrolment deadline, which closes on Sunday, is infantilising, since enrolling is a legal obligation that takes five minutes. He says it is not politicians’ job to make voting exciting, and that we should expect more of the one in three 18-24-year-olds yet to enrol. Ayling says Chris Hipkins’ concerns about disenfranchisement deserve to be taken seriously, but so does the integrity of the count, citing the Auditor-General’s finding that high late enrolments in 2023 overwhelmed staff.
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