MMP overhang debate: How strategic voting could expand Parliament and benefit the right

Opinion bySenior Political Correspondent·NZ Herald·30 Sep, 2026 02:41 AM5 mins to readAudrey Young, Senior Political Correspondent at the New Zealand Herald based at Parliament, specialises in writing about politics and power.‌If National's party vote is depleted further it would spark questions about its authority to lead a re-elected Government.The trouble with the debate over strategic voting is that everybody is right to some extent. Sir John Key was right when he said that National supporters giving their party vote to Act or New Zealand First and electorate vote to National could result in getting rid of some of