• David Seymour has been sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister, succeeding Winston Peters. 
• Seymour’s appointment marks a milestone for the Act Party, which now has 11 MPs. 
• His Treaty Principles Bill has faced significant backlash, including a large protest and more than 300,000 submissions. 

Act Party leader David Seymour has been sworn in as New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister, taking over from New Zealand First leader Winston Peters. 

Seymour was joined by members of his family, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro during the ceremony at Government House in Epsom, Auckland at noon. 

Kiro congratulated Seymour, and Luxon called it a “great privilege”. 

The celebration is expected to last all weekend, with a planned celebratory brunch with Act supporters and party members included in the festivities. 

“This event marks a historic milestone.” the Act Party said. 

“Not only for Seymour personally, but for the Act Party, which has grown from a caucus of one in 2014 to 11 MPs and seats at the Cabinet table in 2025.” 

Seymour is the 19th person to hold New Zealand’s deputy prime ministership. Jack Marshall held the role twice in the 50s and 60s. Peters has held the mantle three times. Several have gone on to become Prime Minister - the likes of Keith Holyoake, Marshall, Robert Muldoon, Geoffrey Palmer, Helen Clark and Bill English. 

Seymour is the 19th person to hold New Zealand’s deputy prime ministership. Photo / Dean Purcell

Seymour told the Front Page this week, “It’s one of those things you probably didn’t think would happen in your life, but here we are”. 

“I think it’s good for New Zealand. It shows if you’re a bit quirky but if your heart’s in the right place and you put in the work, as Crowded House say, ‘You can get somewhere’.” 

Seymour was first elected to Parliament as MP for Epsom in 2014. The Act Party’s sole MP would become its leader. Just over a decade later, he sits beside 10 others after leading the party to its best result ever in the 2023 general election. 

The Act Party leader, David Seymour has been sworn in as New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister, taking over from New Zealand First leader Winston Peters. 

His latest tenure in the Beehive hasn’t come without controversy. 

His Treaty Principles Bill, which Act heralds as a “promise of equal rights for all New Zealanders”, has come under fire and has been described as a ploy to undermine Māori rights. 

Its first reading prompted a hīkoi to Parliament, where up to tens of thousands of people rallied in protest. It received an unprecedented amount of public submissions, more than 300,000. 

Despite it being dead in the water at the start (coalition partners had always intended to vote it down), Seymour said he was not at all surprised it created so much backlash. 

This week, Nicola Willis claimed ignorance about the importance of today to the Government on Heather du Plessis-Allan’s Newstalk ZB Drive show. 

Du Plessis-Allan told her it was the day Seymour became Deputy PM. 

“You can imagine it is not marked as an enormous love heart on my calendar,” Willis said, claiming not much would change. 

Du Plessis-Allan replied: “I want to say ‘stop pretending’ but I know you have to pretend because you have to work with the guy”. 

Seymour is the Minister for Regulation and the Associate Minister of Health, Finance, Education, and Justice. 

Before politics, he worked as an electrical engineer in New Zealand and for private sector think tanks in Canada.