ACT New Zealand polls 2026: 9.6% average & trends in New Zealand
New Zealand · Right-wing Polling
Verified average · 1News Verian · October 2026 · Rank #47 worldwide
Party Leader
David Seymour
Current Seats
11 / 123
Last Election
8.6% · 2023
Next Election
2026
More context: New Zealand polling tracker · election outlook
Polling history · verified readings
Each point is a verified scrape record · hover for details
6M low
9.0%
6M average
10.8%
6M high
12.2%
Verified average · not a prediction
How the average is built
Ø 9.6% = mean of the last 5 verified readings · latest: 1News Verian
1News Verian
10.0%
—
+0.8%
Oct 15, 2026
Headline Ø 9.6% = mean of the last 5 verified readings (latest from 1News Verian), recorded 2026-10-15. Full verified history is plotted above — see Methodology.
Live summary · October 2026
ACT New Zealand polling analysis & live summary — New Zealand
October 2026 update: ACT New Zealand polls 9.6% in New Zealand (poll-of-polls avg of 5 recent verified polls), rising +0.8 points on the quarter. Latest verified reading from 1News Verian, recorded 2026-10-15.
That puts ACT New Zealand at #47 of 56 tracked parties worldwide. Next vote: General on 2026-11-07 (in 22 days). The verified-history chart above plots every stored reading — persistence across releases, not a single headline, is the signal.
Analysis
What the numbers say
ACT New Zealand polls 9.6% in New Zealand (poll-of-polls avg of 5 recent verified polls), up 0.8 points this quarter.
↗ Surging momentum
ACT New Zealand polls 9.6% in New Zealand (poll-of-polls avg of 5 verified readings), gaining +0.8 points over the last quarter with a -1.9 point move across the verified window. That places ACT New Zealand #47 of 56 tracked parties worldwide, with room to climb toward the leading pack.
If ACT New Zealand can capitalize on current trends, consecutive gains tend to compound through media coverage, donor confidence and bandwagon polling effects. Watch whether the next round of releases confirms the average above 9.6% — a hold above that line would signal consolidation rather than a single-poll outlier, while a second straight quarterly gain would put rivals under severe strategic pressure.
Verified basis
5 recent polls
Last update
October 2026
Country
New Zealand
Quarterly Δ
+0.8 pts
Polling analysis
ACT New Zealand polls at 9.6% in New Zealand: current standing, ideology and pollster breakdown
Current standing
ACT New Zealand is currently averaging 9.6% in national polling, reflecting a 0.8% shift upward over the last quarter. ACT New Zealand currently sits at 9.6% based on verified records. The figure is the mean of verified readings — no generated institutes, no interpolated weeks. Verified source: 1News Verian, recorded 2026-10-15. accredited readings into a single 9.6% average — smoothing single-poll outliers and opposing house effects. If the next releases confirm ACT New Zealand above 9.6%, the quarter counts as consolidation rather than noise. See the full New Zealand polling tracker and the upcoming election outlook for coalition context.
Key issues & ideology
ACT ideology is classical liberalism with populist communication: one law for all (hence the Treaty Principles Bill seeking to redefine co-governance), property rights, low flat-ish taxes, school choice, welfare conditionality and the abolition of what it calls race-based policy. The party demands firearms-law liberalisation after the Aramoana-consensus reversal, resource-management deregulation for farmers and developers, and a Regulatory Standards Act constraining future governments.
Voters asking "who is ACT New Zealand?" or "what does ACT New Zealand stand for?" find the party classified here as economic liberalism, law and order, right-wing populism — positioning that explains both its ceiling near 9.6% and where further growth must come from.
Pollster breakdown: how the 9.6% average is built
The table below shows the verified reading behind the headline (1News Verian — each row names its pollster so the source is fully transparent). Accredited houses tracked for New Zealand include 1News Verian, Talbot Mills, Curia, Roy Morgan, Reid Research — see Methodology for inclusion rules.
| Pollster | Figure | Sample | Change | Fieldwork |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1News Verian | 10.0% | — | +0.8% | Oct 15, 2026 |
Party profile
ACT New Zealand: history, ideology and voters
A concise reference on ACT New Zealand of New Zealand — where it comes from, what it stands for, and who votes for it.
History
ACT New Zealand (originally the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers) was founded in 1994 by former Labour finance minister Roger Douglas — the author of Rogernomics — and MP Derek Quigley as a classical-liberal ginger group turned party. It entered parliament in 1996, peaked early as a support partner, then withered to a single Epsom electorate seat by 2014, kept alive by National and the strategic gifting. David Seymour, leader since 2014, saved it through the End of Life Choice referendum campaign (which he authored) and free-speech positioning, then rode the 2020 COVID-election backlash to 7.5 percent and ten seats. The 2023 election delivered 8.6 percent and 11 seats, making ACT the indispensable coalition partner of Christopher Luxon and the Nationals alongside New Zealand First — with Seymour as deputy prime minister under a job-share arrangement and ministers driving Treaty-principles, gun-law and regulation-ministry agendas. Through 2025-26 ACT polled near 10 percent, punching above weight as the ideas factory of the New Zealand right. Seymour and the 2026 decision to force a binding referendum debate on Treaty principles, even at the cost of coalition friction, underlined ACT and the strategy of principled provocation over quiet influence.
Ideology
ACT ideology is classical liberalism with populist communication: one law for all (hence the Treaty Principles Bill seeking to redefine co-governance), property rights, low flat-ish taxes, school choice, welfare conditionality and the abolition of what it calls race-based policy. The party demands firearms-law liberalisation after the Aramoana-consensus reversal, resource-management deregulation for farmers and developers, and a Regulatory Standards Act constraining future governments. Climate policy is Emissions-Trading-Scheme orthodoxy without bans or subsidies. Socially it is liberal on euthanasia and cannabis but conservative on crime. Foreign policy is Five-Eyes Atlanticist with growing interest in AUKUS pillar two. Scholars place ACT as libertarian-populist right, notable for pairing free-market purism with majoritarian Māori-policy confrontation. On law and order it backs three-strikes sentencing and boot-camp academies for young offenders, positions that poll far beyond its own voters.
Voter demographics
ACT voters are Auckland professionals, farmers, gun owners and the self-employed: Remuera libertarians, Waikato dairy farmers, provincial builders and young male contrarians. The party overperforms among Pakeha men, high-income earners and rural electorates, and underperforms among Māori, Pasifika, public servants and Wellington progressives. Epsom remains the symbolic fortress. Former National voters supply the bulk; former New Zealand First voters the protest sprinkle. Women lag men; youth support is meme-driven and male-skewed. Turnout is efficient: ACT supporters are high-propensity voters, and the Epsom electorate deal guarantees parliamentary survival regardless of cycles. Asian-New Zealander small-business owners, drawn by low-tax and anti-crime messaging, have become a notable growth segment in Auckland.
FAQ
ACT New Zealand polls: frequently asked questions
What is ACT New Zealand polling at in 2026?
ACT New Zealand polls 9.6% in New Zealand as of October 2026, based on the last 5 verified readings. The figure updates with every verified release.
Is ACT New Zealand rising or falling in the polls?
ACT New Zealand is rising: ++0.8 points this quarter in New Zealand, with the poll average at 9.6%. A second consecutive quarterly move in the same direction would confirm the trend.
How is the ACT New Zealand polling average calculated?
The 9.6% headline is the mean of the last 5 verified readings in New Zealand — including the latest from 1News Verian. Full rules are on our Methodology page.
When is the next election for ACT New Zealand?
The next General in New Zealand is expected around 2026 (2026-11-07). ACT New Zealand heads into that race averaging 9.6% — the number to watch as the campaign takes shape.
How does ACT New Zealand compare to other right-wing parties worldwide?
ACT New Zealand ranks #47 of 56 tracked parties by verified polling average (9.6%) — 14.3 points below the 23.9% board mean. The leaderboard on our overview page re-sorts with every verified release.
What do party vote polls say about ACT New Zealand?
In New Zealand, "party vote" searches land on the same verified average: ACT New Zealand (ACT) polls 9.6% as of October 2026 ahead of the Parliament race. Local trackers and our poll-of-polls converge on this figure — single surveys move it only if confirmed.
What do 1News Verian / Talbot Mills / Curia polls say about ACT?
Accredited houses tracked for New Zealand include 1News Verian, Talbot Mills, Curia. The 9.6% headline is the mean of the last 5 verified readings — so no single 1News Verian release decides it alone; persistence across houses is the signal. See Methodology for inclusion rules.
