David Seymour facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Honourable David Seymour MP
David Seymour in 2023
1st Minister for Regulation
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 November 2023
Prime Minister	Christopher Luxon
Preceded by	Office established
7th Leader of ACT New Zealand
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 October 2014
Deputy	Kenneth Wang Beth Houlbrooke Brooke van Velden
Preceded by	Jamie Whyte
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Epsom
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 September 2014
Preceded by	John Banks
Majority	9,224
Personal details
Born	David Breen Seymour (1983-06-24) 24 June 1983 (age 41) Palmerston North, New Zealand
Political party	ACT New Zealand
Alma mater	University of Auckland (BA/BE)
Occupation	Politician
Signature
Website	Official website: https://www.davidseymour.org.nz/
Seymour's voice on interview with The Platform

David Breen Seymour (born 24 June 1983) is a New Zealand politician who has been the Leader of ACT New Zealand and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Epsom since 2014. He currently serves as the 1st Minister for Regulation in the Sixth National Government under Christopher Luxon.

Seymour spent his early years in Whangārei and joined ACT as a student at the University of Auckland. Following his graduation, he worked in the engineering industry. Subsequently, he worked for conservative think tanks in Canada during the 2000s, before returning to New Zealand and standing unsuccessfully for election to Parliament in 2005 and 2011. He entered the House of Representatives in 2014 as ACT's sole MP, after which he replaced Jamie Whyte as party leader.

Seymour was re-elected in 2017, and led ACT to one of its best results in the 2020 election, winning ten seats. In the 2023 general election, Seymour was re-elected and the ACT Party increased its representation to 11 seats, the best result in the party's history. ACT subsequently formed a coalition government with the National and New Zealand First parties. Under the coalition arrangement, Seymour will assume the position of deputy prime minister from 31 May 2025, replacing Winston Peters.

Seymour's views on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi have led to robust debate across the political spectrum. During the 2023 general election, he and the ACT party campaigned for a Treaty Principles Bill and a referendum on the principles. ACT proposed several changes to the principles, including the removal of any references to "partnership (co-governance)" (between the Crown and Māori) from the treaty's use in law and instead refer to "all New Zealanders".

Early life

Seymour was born in Palmerston North to a Ngāpuhi mother and Pākehā father in 1983. His family moved to Whangārei when Seymour was a child. As a teenager, he went to Auckland Grammar School and, later, the University of Auckland where he graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical & Electronic) and a Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy).

Seymour worked in Canada as a policy analyst for five years for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and the Manning Centre.

Early political career

ACT activism and candidacy

Seymour is a long-time member of ACT, initially becoming involved in the political party through ACT on Campus while studying at Auckland University. While there, he became leader of the student organisation.

Seymour first stood for ACT in 2005 in Mt Albert. He was unsuccessful in the electorate, which was held by Helen Clark, who was Prime Minister at the time, and with 1.51% of the party vote ACT returned only two members to parliament, leaving Seymour out.

At the 2011 general election, Seymour stood for ACT in the Auckland Central electorate, but the electorate was retained by National's Nikki Kaye. 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.

Seymour, alongside Jamie Whyte (on the right), during a press conference announcing their selections as the Epsom candidate and party leader respectively, 2014

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.

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.

Ministerial portfolios

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.

LGBTI cross-party group

In 2015, Seymour became a member of a cross-party group initiated by Jan Logie to look at and advocate for LGBTI rights. The group also included: Catherine Delahunty (Green), Chris Bishop (National), Denis O'Rourke (NZ First), Denise Roche (Green), James Shaw (Green), Kevin Hague (Green), Louisa Wall (Labour), Nanaia Mahuta (Labour), Paul Foster-Bell (National), and Trevor Mallard (Labour).

Legalisation of Uber drivers and ride-sharing drivers

On 4 August 2017, Seymour and Transport Minister Simon Bridges helped to make Uber become part of New Zealand's transport system. This also opened other ride-sharing apps like DiDi and Ola to enter and co-exist in the market.

Second term, 2017–2020

David Seymour's electorate car at the Viaduct Harbour, May 2018

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

Gun control, 2019

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 urgency of the government's gun control legislation.

Zero Carbon Act 2019

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.

Coronavirus pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, Seymour served as a member of the Epidemic Response Committee from 25 March 2020.

Third term, 2020–2023

David Seymour speaking in Palmerston North, July 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.

Coronavirus pandemic

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.

2022 "arrogant prick" incident

In mid December 2022, Seymour questioned Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during the Parliamentary Question time about various issues including hate speech and the Three Waters reform programme. Following the session, Ardern was recorded on a hot mic calling Seymour an "arrogant prick". Since New Zealand parliamentary debates are televised, the comment was aired on television during Question Time. Ardern later issued a personal apology to Seymour for her remark. The two politicians subsequently reconciled and joined forces to raise NZ$60,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation by auctioning a signed and framed copy of the Prime Minister's remark.

Fourth term, 2023–present

David Seymour with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon after their appointment as ministers at Government House on 27 November 2023

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 will serve as deputy prime minister until 31 May 2025, and then Seymour will assume 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).

Associate education

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 is 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 a haka (war 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. In response, Principal Graeme Williams condemned the students' behaviour as "totally unacceptable" and stated 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.

In early April 2024, Seymour created an eight-member "Charter School/Kura Hourua Establishment Board" to facilitate the reintroduction of charter schools. The Board is headed by St Cuthbert's College principal Justine Mahon, with other notable members including Glen Denham and Professor Elizabeth Rata. The Board aims to reestablish charter schools by 2025. On 16 April, Seymour announced several changes to the early childhood education sector including easing teaching qualification requirements, allowing the government to decide the location of early childhood centres, and introducing mandatory reporting of child abuse.

On 1 May 2024, Seymour confirmed that the Government would continue to fund the previous Labour Government's free school lunches programme for a few years until the completion of a review into the programme. On 8 May, Seymour announced the Government's modified school lunch programme, which would cost $234.8 million for the 2025 school year. Under the revised scheme, 10,000 pre-schoolers in low-equity, non-profit early childhood centres would be eligible for free morning tea and lunch five days a week at a cost of $4 million. While the school lunch programme would remained unchanged for primary school students in 2025, the school lunch programme for intermediate and high school students would be bulk-purchased by the Government and delivered to schools.

On 14 May, Seymour announced that the Government would allocate $153 million from the 2024 budget to convert 35 state schools into charter schools and establish 15 new charter schools between 2025 and 2026. Labour's education spokesperson Jan Tinetti, Green education spokesperson Lawrence Xu-Nan, the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) and the Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA), objected to the Government's charter school plans on the grounds that they were "profit-driven", would divert funding from overwhelmed state schools, disadvantaged children with behavioural issues and disabilities and did not have to hire qualified teachers. By contrast, Innovative Education Consultants head consultant Alwyn Poole and St Stephen's School co-principal Nathan Durie welcomed the reintroduction of charter schools, arguing that they would meet the needs of children and bring flexibility to the educational system.

In late September 2024, Seymour confirmed that the Government would prosecute parents for persistent truancy and remove teacher-only days during school term time. In mid-October 2024, Seymour released details of the Government's revised free school lunch programme, which would be launched in Term 1 2024. Seymour said that the revamped programme would save $130 million a year, with meals costing an average of NZ$3. Meals would consist of chicken katsu, butter chicken, lasagne, chicken pasta salad and wraps. Meals for students in Years 0 to 9 would be an average of 240 grams while meals for older students would be at least 300g with additional items including fruit, yoghurt or muesli bars. Schools would receive funding and resources to either prepare their meals internally, iwi/hapū providers and external suppliers including Gilmours, Foodstuffs, Watties and Hellers.

On 19 December 2024, Seymour and Tertiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds announced that the Government would amend the Education and Training Act 2020 to strengthen universities' free speech obligations.

Associate finance

On 10 March 2024, Seymour announced that the Government would restore interest deductions on residential investment properties.

Associate health (Pharmac)

In mid-July 2024, Associate Health Minister Seymour had instructed the pharmaceutical purchasing agency Pharmac to stop factorising the Treaty of Waitangi in its decisions, writing that "Pharmac's role should focus on delivering improved health outcomes underpinned by robust data and evidence, in accordance with its statutory responsibilities. This should serve all New Zealanders based on actual need, without assigning their background as a proxy of need." While Seymour's directive was supported Pharmac board chair Paula Bennett and Patient Voice Aotearoa chair Malcolm Mulholland, it was criticised by former Māori Health Authority clinical lead Dr Rawiri McKree Jansen, who said that the Government could do more to improve Māori access to health services and medicines.

Acting prime minister

Seymour served as acting prime minister from 14 to 20 July 2024 during Prime Minister Luxon's personal leave following his trip to the US. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was unavailable for the role as he was visiting Japan and South Korea at the time. As acting prime minister, Seymour toured the Government's Military-Style Academy Pilot for youth offenders with Children's Minister Karen Chhour and the media on 20 July.

Regulation

As Minister for Regulation, Seymour is the sponsor of the proposed Regulatory Standards Bill, saying that its purpose was to "increase transparency in lawmaking." He said that the proposed bill would prioritise individual and property rights, enabling business growth and opportunites. The Regulatory Standards Bill has been crticised by University of Auckland law Professor Jane Kelsey, who said it would circumscribe scrutiny and prioritised property rights over other considerations including the Treaty of Waitangi, the environment and workplace safety. Similarly, researcher Melanie Nelson claimed the bill lacked a "democratic mandate for constitutional changes of this magnitude." By contrast, New Zealand Initiative senior research fellow Bryce Wilkinson argued that good quality legislation was needed to protect personal autonomy and property.

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.

Electoral history

2005 election

2005 general election: Mount Albert
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Y Helen Clark		20,918	66.55	-1.94	17,501	54.33	+2.53
	National	Ravi Musuku		6,169	19.63		8,488	26.35	+13.33
	Green	Jon Carapiet		1,485	4.72	-0.67	2,985	9.27	-1.35
	NZ First	Julian Batchelor		746	2.37		1,089	3.38	-3.01
	ACT	David Seymour		746	2.37		651	2.02	-5.09
	United Future	Tony Gordon		529	1.68		649	2.01	-3.28
	Progressive	Jenny Wilson		407	1.29		525	1.59	-0.10
	Destiny	Anne Williamson		337	1.07		157	0.49
	Independent	Jim Bagnall		83	0.26
	Anti-Capitalist	Daphna Whitmore		79	0.25	-0.15
	Independent	Anthony Ravlich		47	0.15
	Direct Democracy	Howard Ponga		30	0.10		10	0.03
	Independent	Erik Taylor		29	0.09
	Māori Party						168	0.52
	Christian Heritage						40	0.12	-0.89
	Alliance						22	0.07	-1.69
	Family Rights						20	0.06
	Libertarianz						19	0.06
	RONZ						8	0.02
	99 MP						6	0.02
	Democrats						3	0.01
	One NZ						0	0.00	-0.01
Informal votes				316			130
Total Valid votes				31,747			32,342
	Labour hold		Majority	14,749

2011 election

Auckland Central (New Zealand electorate)

2014 election

2017 election

2017 general election: Epsom
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	ACT	Y David Seymour		16,505	43.17	+0.09	696	1.78	−0.94
	National	Paul Goldsmith		10,986	28.73	−2.87	22,875	58.64	−4.41
	Labour	David Parker		7,067	18.49	+9.13	9,575	24.55	+11.16
	Green	Barry Coates		2,785	7.28	−0.87	3,263	8.37	−4.13
	NZ First	Julian Paul		657	1.72	+0.22	1,229	3.15	−0.32
	Conservative	Leighton Baker		230	0.60	−4.05	80	0.20	−2.27
	Opportunities						1,043	2.67	—
	Māori Party						124	0.32	−0.14
	People's Party						34	0.09	—
	United Future						24	0.06	−0.10
	Ban 1080						9	0.02	0.00
	Democrats						7	0.02	−0.01
	Outdoors						7	0.02	—
	Internet						6	0.02	−0.81
	Mana Party						6	0.02	−0.81
Informal votes				317			76
Total Valid votes				38,230			39,008
Turnout				39,092
	ACT hold		Majority	5,519	14.44	+3.16

2020 election

2020 general election: Epsom
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	ACT	Y David Seymour		19,500	46.97	+3.80	4,355	10.36	+8.58
	Labour	Camilla Belich		10,276	24.75	+6.26	15,078	35.87	+11.32
	National	Paul Goldsmith		6,397	15.41	−13.32	15,668	37.27	−21.37
	Green	Kyle MacDonald		3,101	7.47	+0.19	4,596	10.93	+2.56
	Opportunities	Adriana Christie		889	2.14	—	822	1.95	+1.75
	TEA	Noel Jiang		337	0.81	—	112	0.26	—
	New Conservative	Norman Sutton		231	0.79	+0.19	211	0.50	+0.30
	Advance NZ	Faith-Joy Aaron		166	0.39	—	147	0.34	—
	Sustainable NZ	Shannon Withers		72	0.17	—	30	0.07	—
	Outdoors	Maia Prochazka		31	0.07	—	7	0.01	−0.19
	Not A Party	Finn Harris		24	0.05	—
	NZ First						609	1.44	−1.71
	Māori Party						108	0.25	−0.07
	ONE						27	0.06	—
	Social Credit						8	0.01	—
	Vision NZ						8	0.01	—
	Heartland						6	0.01	—
Informal votes				484			203
Total Valid votes				41,508			42,031
Turnout				42,311	82.84
	ACT hold		Majority	9,224	22.22	+7.78

2023 election

2023 general election: Epsom
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	ACT	Y David Seymour		17,826	44.43	-2.54	5,041	12.40	+2.04
	National	Paul Goldsmith		9,684	24.14	+8.73	20,948	51.54	+14.27
	Labour	Camilla Belich		6,189	15.42	-9.33	5,945	14.62	-21.25
	Green	Lawrence Xu-Nan		3,537	8.81	+1.34	5,507	13.55	+2.62
	Opportunities	Nina Asu		1,803	4.49	+2.35	1,307	3.21	+1.26
	NZ First	Tanya Unkovich		573	1.42	—	1,059	2.60	+1.16
	New Zealand Loyal	Anna Rotheray		164	0.40	—	123	0.30	—
	Te Pāti Māori						299	0.73	+0.48
	NewZeal						76	0.18	−+0.12
	Freedoms New Zealand						34	0.08	—
	New Conservatives Party						28	0.06	-0.44
	Women's Rights Party						26	0.06	—
	DemocracyNZ						16	0.03	—
	New Nation Party						5	0.01	—
	Leighton Baker Party						2	0.00	—
Informal votes				339			109
Total Valid votes				40,115			40,637
	ACT hold		Majority	8,142	20.29	-1.93