Wealthy businessman's anti-MMP campaign puts National on the defensive one week
Businessman Harry Mowbray's 'Split Your Vote' campaign forces National to fight on defence just over a week before the election.
With just over a week until New Zealand's election, wealthy businessman Harry Mowbray launched a "Split Your Vote" campaign to trick voters into giving their party votes to Act or New Zealand First instead of National.
Mowbray wants to show why MMP fails and calls it a "complete dog" of a system. National has spent the past week answering the campaign instead of talking about policy.
The campaign could be having some impact, with National dropping several points in two polls published this week. Mowbray admits his real goal is to discredit MMP by showing how much power smaller parties hold.
- just over one week
- Time until election
- discredit MMP
- Mowbray's stated goal
- several points in two polls
- National's drop in polls
Why it mattersA billionaire-backed campaign attacking a major party's electoral strategy one week before the vote could shift the balance in an already knife-edge election.
AustraliaNew Zealand election outcome affects trans-Tasman relations and regional stability; a major shift in who forms government could reshape NZ policy direction.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 1 h ago
