The two men chosen as the new faces for ACT this election acknowledge the strategy to split the roles of leader and Epsom candidate is risky.
ACT's board on Sunday selected academic and management consultant Jamie Whyte, 48, as party leader replacing John Banks, and David Seymour as the candidate to stand in the Epsom electorate.
John Boscawen quit as party president after failing in his bid for the leadership and Epsom candidacy.
Jamie Whyte. Photo: RNZ
Dr Whyte has recently returned to New Zealand from Britain where he was a philosophy lecturer at Cambridge University, while 30-year-old David Seymour has worked in Mr Banks' parliamentary office and has stood as an ACT candidate in previous elections.
There was fierce debate within the party and board about having a separate leader and electorate candidate. Part of the anxiety was due to events at the 2011 election, where the leader Don Brash made differing statements about decriminalising marijuana, to the then Epsom candidate, John Banks.
While acknowleging the risk both the leader-elect and Epsom candidate say the split roles are the best way to revive ACTs flagging fortunes.
Dr Whyte said he was confident he can reconnect with voters who like ACT policy but have lost confidence in the party itself, and if several ACT MPs are not elected to Parliament, he will resign as leader.
He was asked about the possibility that Mr Seymour is voted into Parliament, but he, as leader, misses out on a list seat. "That's obviously a risk, that happened last time. If that happens I'll wish David well and I will consider myself to have failed in my job of re-energising this party and I will gladly walk away."
Dr Whyte told Radio New Zealand's Morning Report programme on Monday he is confident ACT will do well in the election, despite the fact neither he nor the party's Epsom candidate, David Seymour, are household names.
John Boscawen, who has been a generous donor to the party over the years and an active fund-raiser, told Morning Report he will stay as a party member but will no longer work to fill the party's coffers.
Dr Whyte said he is confident the ACT party can raise the funds needed for an effective election campaign without John Boscawen's money and help.
