Former National Party candidate James Christmas, who was tipped as a potential minister and Attorney-General, will contest this year’s election as a candidate for the Act Party.

He is one of eight people vying to become Act’s candidate in Auckland’s Tāmaki electorate, which will be an intriguing contest after the departure from politics of MP Brooke van Velden, also Act’s deputy leader.

Christmas, a barrister who worked under senior National figures including Sir John Key, Sir Bill English and Chris Finlayson, will be considered a significant loss for National given he was considered a possible option to take on the Attorney-General role and act as a Treaty Negotiations Minister.

With a deep understanding of Treaty settlements and New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements, Christmas also presents as an ideal candidate to articulate the party’s next attempt at constitutional reform after the failed Treaty Principles Bill, which Christmas’ former mentor Finlayson condemned as divisive.

Speaking exclusively to the Herald, Christmas acknowledged some in National might be “disappointed” by his decision but he insisted it was not prompted by any ill will towards his former party.

“I’ve looked at where I can make the biggest contribution, and I made a positive decision to [join Act],” he said.

“It’s no more complicated than that, there’s no hidden story there.”

James Christmas will be a candidate for Act at this election. Photo / Supplied

Act leader David Seymour is welcoming his newest candidate and isn’t ruling out Christmas holding a leadership role in the party in the future.

“There’s always the possibility, but let’s just see if we can get him elected to Parliament first.”

Christmas, 40, worked for Finlayson during the last National Government’s tenure from 2008-2017 when the latter was Attorney-General, Treaty Negotiations Minister and in charge of the spy agencies.

Christmas went on to work as an adviser to Key and English when they were Prime Minister before going out on his own as a lawyer in Auckland.

In 2023, Christmas was ranked 28th on National’s party list before the general election.

In a profile published by the Herald in August that year, Christmas had been tipped for senior positions in Government, should he enter Parliament.

However, with all votes tallied, Christmas was three places too low after National won 43 electorate seats and was only allowed five list seats, which went to Nicola Willis, Paul Goldsmith, Melissa Lee, Gerry Brownlee and Nancy Lu.

Christmas said he had suspected his chances of becoming an MP in 2023 were low after helping campaign in traditionally left-leaning Auckland electorates.

“It was pretty clear door-knocking there that National was going to win some of those seats, so … it was going to be a bit of a roll of the dice.”

Christmas then put his political ambition to one side for a year before picking it back up in 2025, thanks in part to conversations with former Act Party identities.

“I think the thing that probably flipped it a bit was I went and had lunch with [former party leader] Richard Prebble.

“I went down to see him in Whakatāne, where he was out there fishing for the weekend, and had lunch with him and we had a bit of a chat,” Christmas said, adding he also lunched with Act co-founder Roger Douglas earlier that year.

Former Act leader Richard Prebble had lunch with Christmas last year. Photo / NZ Herald

Describing himself as a “classical liberal” who had supported Act at university, Christmas believed liberalism “really does find a home in Act”.

“You’ve seen that pretty consistently and it’s on the issues like individual liberty, property rights, equal citizenship, calling for the smaller state.

“But I think one thing I do like about Act is they are willing to go out on a limb for those things when required.”

He pointed to Act’s opposition to legislation banning greyhound racing, which was passed recently with support by the other five parties in Parliament.

Christmas, who had remained in touch with many former National Cabinet ministers, claimed his decision to go with Act was not spurred by any disagreement or drama.

“No, honestly, it’s not a walking away from the Nats, it’s a positive decision to go to Act.”

He referenced Seymour’s State of the Nation speech this year as another factor in his switch.

“[Seymour] called the cost-of-living crisis a productivity slump, which it is, talked about real economic growth actually going backwards.

“Before you can have the credibility to actually talk about trying to change these things, you have to be upfront with what the problem actually is and I think that’s what David has been doing.”

Act leader David Seymour has welcomed Christmas' decision. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Christmas accepted the news might surprise some in the National Party.

“I imagine there will be a level of disappointment from some of my friends and former colleagues in the National Party.

“I imagine some of them will be fine with it, and I’m hoping there’ll be a good reaction in the Act Party, but I made what I consider [to be] a really principled and well thought through decision here that hasn’t been made in any respect on a whim.”

Treaty reform

This term, Act was unsuccessful in gaining enough support to pass its Treaty Principles Bill into law, which would have redefined the Treaty’s principles.

While Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has vowed not to support something similar in a future coalition agreement with Act, Seymour has promised to continue pursuing reform in this area. He is yet to unveil how it will fit into his 2026 campaign.

Enter Christmas, whose experience in law and in Parliament makes him no stranger to the Treaty of Waitangi. He also co-authored a book with Christopher Finlayson, He Kupu Taurangi: Treaty Settlements and the Future of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Christmas said he supported Seymour’s desire to debate the Treaty’s place in modern New Zealand, arguing its principles had been “sprinkled like confetti” through legislation.

“These things have been dropped in everywhere and often they don’t specify what obligations they create, who bears them or how they’re enforced.

“In the end ... it’s handed the decision of what they mean to the public service and the courts to fill in the gaps.

“I don’t think it’s unfair after 40 years of having these in our law, that Parliament stands back and has a proper look at them.”

Christmas worked under senior National minister Chris Finlayson. Photo / Mark Mitchell

His former mentor Finlayson was a prominent critic of Seymour’s bill, regularly urging Luxon and National to withdraw support.

Christmas wouldn’t expand on his own view of the bill and answered carefully when asked whether he’d debated the matter with Finlayson, who Christmas said had been supportive of his decision to become an Act candidate.

“I keep in touch with Chris and we discuss stuff from time to time, but his views on stuff aren’t determinative on me, and my views are certainly not determinative on Chris.

“The worst thing anyone could ever try to do is put words in Chris Finlayson’s mouth and I would never try to do that.”

Tāmaki electorate race

The surprise announcement from van Velden last month that she was leaving politics has prompted speculation about who might succeed her as Tāmaki’s MP.

The seat, held almost exclusively by National since 1946, became Act’s second electorate seat after van Velden overcame National’s Simon O’Connor, who had been the local MP for four consecutive terms.

In February, National announced its candidate as Mahesh Muralidhar, a tech start-up mentor and investor who lost to then-Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick in Auckland Central in 2023.

Christmas confirmed he was one of eight people vying to be Act’s Tāmaki candidate.

Other contenders are: Antonia Modkova (ranked 12th on Act’s 2023 list), Pat Arroyo, Henrietta Devoe, Helena Roza, Mike Schmidt, Malkiat Singh and Paul Wedding.

From Monday, party members in the electorate can vote for their preferred candidate before a final decision made by the party’s board, which will be announced on April 20.

Seymour described Christmas as a “very high-quality candidate” but also spoke highly of Modkova and Roza.

“Those are at least three of the eight who I think any of them could be a very good nomination.”

Brooke van Velden announced last month she was leaving politics. Photo / Mark Mitchell

On the addition of Christmas to his ranks, Seymour hoped Christmas’ former colleagues respected his choice.

“He’s clearly someone who has a lot of sympathy for the National Party, but feels that himself and the country need a bit more edge.

“Nobody who knows [Christmas] would deny that he is incredibly likable, intellectually formidable and exactly the sort of person who should be entering Parliament at this point in our history.”

Asked if Christmas could lead the party’s next proposed Treaty reform policies, Seymour said his new candidate had relevant skills.

“Look, I think New Zealand has challenges around its constitutional underpinnings and he brings intellectual grunt to that issue, not just in relation to the Treaty, but also the relationship between the courts and government, which has been very, very strained lately.”

Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.