The Conservative Party NZ, formerly New Conservatives, is a conservative political party in New Zealand. Some opponents and observers have described the party's policies as far-right, though the party now states it has moved to a "more centrist" position under new leadership. It advocates for lower taxation, anti-abortion measures and austerity cuts.
It was founded as the Conservative Party in August 2011 by businessman and political activist Colin Craig, who led the party from its foundation until his resignation in June 2015. The party had two members on the Upper Harbour Local Board in Auckland from 2013 to 2016. The party has contested the four general elections from 2011 through 2020 without winning any seats. At the 2014 election it received 3.97% of the vote. At the 2020 general election, they gained 1.5% of the vote. The party changed its name to New Conservative in November 2017, and then to New Conservatives in 2023. The party returned to its original name, rebranding to Conservative Party NZ in 2026.
Ideology and policies
The Conservative Party NZ's policies include, or have included:
Protection of free speech. A focus on rehabilitation in prison. Binding citizens-initiated referendums. Linking adjustment to MPs' salaries to changes in the average wage in New Zealand. Increasing investment into pollution research, and public/private research and development partnerships. Protecting schools, marketplaces, and groups fundraising "from unnecessary bureaucracy". Increasing housing access and affordability. Recriminalising euthanasia and abortion.
Former co-leader Ted Johnston described the party in November 2021 as "centrist to centre right". He also said that the party no longer advocates removing Māori seats, easing of gun laws, or introducing forced prison labour.
Leaders and high profile members No. Leader(s) Term start Term end Period 1 Colin Craig 3 August 2011 19 June 2015 Office Vacant 19 June 2015 24 January 2017 2 Leighton Baker 24 January 2017 19 November 2020 3 Elliot Ikilei 19 November 2020 31 December 2020 Office Vacant 31 December 2020 10 October 2021 4 Ted Johnston and Helen Houghton 11 October 2021 2 September 2023 5 Helen Houghton 2 September 2023 Incumbent
List of deputy leaders
+No.NameTerm startTerm endLeader1Christine Rankin??Craig2Elliot Ikilei9 June 201719 November 2020Baker3Victoria O'Brian19 November 2020IkileiOffice vacant– Other past and present high-profile members include: Larry Baldock, politician and former MP. Baldock joined in 2011 through an alliance with The Kiwi Party. He left in 2014, as his party membership was suspended while he faced disciplinary action. Christine Rankin, former CEO of Work and Income New Zealand. Member from 2012 to 2015. Garth McVicar, lobbyist and founder of Sensible Sentencing Trust. Member in 2014, leaving the party after the 2014 general election. David Moffett, former CEO of Sport England, NZ Rugby, NRL and Welsh Rugby Union. Joined the Board in January 2019, but as of September 2019 was not listed as a board member on the party's website. Gordon Copeland (1943–2018), politician and former MP.
History Colin Craig era, 2011–2016 Formation The Conservative Party was founded by Colin Craig, a businessman who had organised a protest march in 2009 and who had stood in the 2010 Auckland mayoral election, polling third with 8.7% of the vote.Craig received 42,598 votes behind Len Brown (237,487 votes) and John Banks (171,542 votes): Craig announced the formation of the Conservative Party on 3 August 2011 at a media event in Newmarket, Auckland. It gained the 500 members required for registration within a month of its founding, and the Electoral Commission registered it on 6 October 2011.
2011 election The Conservatives contested the 2011 general election. In October 2011 they announced electoral alliances with The Kiwi Party and New Citizen Party, in which their candidates stood instead as Conservatives. The party ran a list of 52 candidates, including Kiwi Party leader Larry Baldock and former New Citizen Botany candidate Paul Young. Craig stood in the Rodney electorate. The party spent NZ$1.88 million on its campaign, the second-highest of any party, with most of the money coming from Craig himself.
During the campaign the party portrayed itself as able to work with either of the two main parties, National and Labour. It highlighted its socially conservative policies of raising the drinking age to 21, parental notification for abortions, and repeal of the "anti-smacking" law. It announced its opposition to National's policy of selling state assets.
The party gained 2.65% of the party vote (59,237 votes), but failed to win any seats in Parliament. Craig came second in Rodney, gaining 8,031 votes – 12,222 votes behind first-time National Party candidate Mark Mitchell.
Following the election, Conservative candidates Larry Baldock and Peter Redman were referred to police for filing false expenses returns and for exceeding the $25,000 cap on election expenses. Colin Craig stated that if the police found any impropriety neither Larry Baldock nor Peter Redman would be allowed to stand as Conservative candidates. The police subsequently declined to lay charges in the matter.
2011 to 2014
In May 2013, the party appointed Christine Rankin, a high-profile former Work and Income New Zealand chief executive, as its own chief executive.
The party contested the 2013 Christchurch East by-election; candidate Leighton Baker polled 494 votes (or 3.6%). The party also contested the 2013 local elections, fielding 27 candidates in Auckland. The party gained 50,218 votes overall, and two candidates (Christine Rankin and Callum Blair) were elected to the Upper Harbour Local Board.
In February 2014, the then-Green Party co-leader Russel Norman spoke at the Big Gay Out event in Auckland and alleged that Colin Craig held misogynistic and homophobic attitudes. In response, Craig filed a defamation suit and demanded that Norman issue an apology. Norman and the Green Party announced that they would contest the lawsuit. On 10 October 2014, the parties settled the lawsuit out of court and agreed to bear their own legal expenses.
2014 election In November 2013, speculation arose in New Zealand news media about a possible accommodation between the Conservatives and the National Party for the 2014 general election. Comments by Prime Minister and National Party leader John Key led to speculation of a coalition in which the National Party would not run a candidate in an electorate on Auckland's North Shore, such as Rodney, East Coast Bays, or the newly formed . This would have assisted the Conservative Party in meeting the threshold for entering parliament. Ultimately, National ran candidates in all these electorates. After some indecision, Craig elected to stand in the East Coast Bays electorate. John Key announced on 28 July 2014 that the National party candidate for East Coast Bays, Murray McCully, would not step aside to assist the Conservatives into parliament, nor would National urge its members to vote for Craig.
Among its candidates, the Conservative Party selected its chief executive Christine Rankin to stand in the Epsom electorate and Sensible Sentencing Trust founder Garth McVicar for the Napier electorate. The Electoral Commission awarded the Conservatives $60,000 in advertising funding for the 2014 general election, three times the $20,800 allocation it made to the Conservatives in 2011. On 1 August 2014, Colin Craig revealed that China-based firm Shanghai Pengxin was purchasing Lochinver Station, a large dairy farm, and said that the Conservatives were opposed to the deal.
The party reached 4.6% in a 3 News Reid Research poll released in late August 2014, suggesting that it might break the 5% threshold. On 13 September, a TVNZ Colmar Brunton Poll showed McVicar polling 22% in the Napier electorate, behind both the Labour and National candidates.
The party was to be excluded from a televised debate of minor party leaders, while lower-polling parties such as ACT New Zealand and United Future would have been included. Craig won a High Court injunction on 8 August 2014 to prevent this exclusion, and ultimately appeared in the debate. Shortly before the general election, the party's press secretary Rachel MacGregor resigned, citing Colin Craig's alleged manipulative behaviour.
The Conservative Party received 3.97% of the party vote and won no electorate seats, meaning that it did not meet the threshold to enter Parliament.
2015 resignations of leader and board members On 19 June 2015, Colin Craig resigned as leader of the Conservative Party's leader. Board members had scheduled a meeting for that day to discuss the leadership as it was felt that Craig's recent participation in a television interview (with David Farrier on the debut episode of Newsworthy), conducted in a sauna, had reflected badly on the party. Dissatisfaction had also been expressed over Craig's demeanour toward the party's former press secretary Rachel MacGregor, who had resigned just before the 2014 general election. Dissatisfaction increased when Craig pre-emptively and perhaps unconstitutionally postponed the meeting for a week in order to announce his resignation. On 21 June, The New Zealand Herald reported that Craig had settled the dispute with MacGregor for around NZ$16,000 to NZ$17,000 eight weeks earlier. One News also reported that there was a disagreement between Craig and several of the party's board members. One member, John Stringer, accused Craig of not following the party's constitution. Craig denied the allegation and threatened to take action against Stringer. The chairman of the Board stated that Stringer's views did not reflect the view of the Conservative Party and that his comments were only his opinion. That same day, Craig said that he would consider contesting the party's leadership if he had enough support.
In a media conference on 22 June 2015, Craig admitted that he had "acted inappropriately" toward his press secretary Rachel MacGregor but denied any charge of sexual harassment. In response, MacGregor said that by making the admission, Craig had breached a confidentiality agreement the pair had reached under Human Rights Commission mediation and she disputed his account of the events. Craig's wife Helen Craig said that she was standing by her husband and characterized the charges against him as "false allegations." According to the Herald, several board members of the party including Stringer, Christine Rankin, and Laurence Day indicated support for a change of leadership. A board meeting was scheduled for 27 June 2015 and Day called for Craig to be expelled from the party. Rankin, Garth McVicar, and Bob McCoskrie all ruled out contesting the leadership.
In the week after Craig's resignation, all remaining members of the board apart from Stringer resigned. On 27 June 2015, at the scheduled board meeting, Stringer appointed a new board consisting of himself as chairman and four new members. This board voted to suspend Craig's membership in the party. Stringer said that a final decision about Craig's membership and the appointment of a new leader would be made at a later date. According to One News, Craig later challenged the legality of Stringer's and the board's actions, claiming that Stringer had been suspended from the party. He did not rule out contesting the leadership. Craig's remarks were dismissed by Stringer, who became the party's interim leader.