Deputy PM handover: Seymour vows straight talk, Peters fires up campaign

David Seymour has vowed to keep speaking freely as he takes over as deputy prime minister, while an unshackled Winston Peters shifts into campaign mode, planning to avoid another handover next term.

And both men were quick to demonstrate their fire after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told RNZ he still regards the number two job as largely ceremonial.

The handover of the deputy prime ministership, as agreed during coalition negotiations, marks a new milestone for the government and the half-way point of its term.

Seymour will head to the governor-general's official residence in Auckland on 31 May to be sworn in.

In separate sit-down interviews with RNZ, the ACT and NZ First leaders remarked on the honour of holding the position, though downplayed the significance of the change.

Seymour told RNZ the transition - in most respects - would be "business as usual", adding, "I've actually been the acting prime minister several times, and we're all still here, so don't worry."

Peters too was matter-of-fact: "We signed up to that in 2023 - so we don't have reflections on it. Just stick to your word and keep going."

Ceremonial? 'How would he know?'

The position was one of the last points of contention to be resolved during coalition negotiations. At the time, Luxon sought to play down its importance, saying it was "largely a ceremonial role".

Eighteen months on, Luxon told RNZ he stood by that, noting Peters and Seymour were only ever left in charge for brief stints: "When I do my trips [overseas], I'm pretty fast - in and out and back home pretty quickly."

To that, Seymour sniped: "He doesn't think it's ceremonial when he leaves the country and relies on you to act for him.

"A couple of times when I've been acting prime minister... we had the CrowdStrike [IT outage], we had the Chinese ships... you're the person on the spot for those decisions."

Peters also gave Luxon's comments short shrift: "When he [first] said that, he had no experience himself of the job, so how would he know?"

He pointedly noted that the opposition asked him far fewer questions during Parliament's Question Time than they ever did Luxon: "I kind of think that tells you something... experience matters, big time."

Seymour: 'Won't be losing my freedom to think'

Asked whether the new role would temper his at-time-outspoken style, Seymour was defiant.

"I'm astonished you believe that my tone would need moderation or my remarks would need constraint," Seymour told RNZ.

"I certainly won't be losing my freedom to think and to speak and to express what people in our communities are thinking."

Seymour denied ever criticising his coalition partners, saying he had only ever responded to criticism: "Hopefully that won't be necessary again in this term of government."

He stressed he intended to discharge his new responsibilities "very well" to demonstrate the ACT Party was "a serious player".

"My responsibility is going to be regulation, education, finance and health, just like the day before," Seymour said.

"My job will be to show New Zealanders that ACT is politically competent and can deliver and execute in government. This is another chapter of that - becoming DPM."

Seymour said he'd not sought - nor received - advice from his predecessor, saying Peters had taught by demonstration.

"Some of those lessons, I'll take. Others I might leave with him."

Peters eyes 2026 as he passes the baton

The NZ First leader said his role as deputy prime minister had been to "offer experience... in a environment where a lot of ministers were new".

Peters said the privilege of the position also came with "serious constraints" including a heavier workload and limits around expression.

"Speaking your mind is marvellous - but we're not in a free-think society here. We're in a coalition, and one should always remember it."

With his duties reduced, Peters said he would now have more time to focus on NZ First's election campaign, with a series of roadshows - "not eating sausage rolls" - planned around the country.

"We took the first turn [as DPM], not the second one," he said. "It works out like a charm."

Peters also planned to ease back his relentless travel schedule as foreign minister, as previously signalled. He will be overseas at the time of the handover, visiting Sri Lanka, Nepal, and India. By his return, he will have visited 44 individual countries in the past 18 months.

"We've slogged it out trying to make up for the massive deficit that we inherited... it was pretty exhausting, and in that sense, it is going to be less now."

As for what his election campaign would look like, Peters said he had learned the "bitter lessons" of 2020 and would bypass the mainstream media to speak directly to hundreds of thousands of "forgotten New Zealanders" over the next 18 months.

"This time, we're getting the firepower, the army ready," he said. "We are better prepared than we've ever been in this party's political career."

And Peters made clear he would seek to avoid another handover of the deputy prime ministership next term.

"If we'd have been given a fair go in the 2023 election, there'd be no need for a handover," Peters said. "It's our intention to remove any doubt next election."

Early election? Full term, the plan

The exact date of the next election remains unset, though Labour has stirred mischief by raising the spectre of an early vote.

Peters said he was "not really" preparing for that possibility: "You can never forecast any of those things, but our plan is the full term and stable government."

Seymour also dismissed the idea his time as deputy prime minister could be cut short.

"It's in absolutely nobody's interest - except perhaps the complete Looney Tunes in the Greens and Te Pāti Māori and their enablers in Labour.

"There's only about 60 odd people in New Zealand - and they are odd people - who would benefit from an early election."

Even Labour leader Chris Hipkins told RNZ he thought it unlikely: "Turkeys don't vote for an early Christmas."

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