ACT has named Nicole McKee as its new deputy leader, placing the associate justice minister into a campaign role as Brooke van Velden prepares to leave Parliament at the election.
A graphic portrait of ACT MP Nicole McKee in front of a stylised Beehive and silver fern motif, marking her appointment as the party's new deputy leader.
ACT has named Nicole McKee as its new deputy leader, placing the associate justice minister into a campaign role as Brooke van Velden prepares to leave Parliament at the election. The appointment was revealed at ACT's AGM in Auckland, where McKee addressed supporters, candidates and volunteers. The list MP, who entered Parliament in 2020, was chosen by the party's caucus to replace van Velden after six years in the role. The move gives ACT a new senior face for the election campaign while keeping leader David Seymour's central position unchanged.
McKee is best known publicly for firearms policy, but her speech tried to broaden that frame. She cited her work on rewriting the Arms Act, reinstating the Three Strikes law, speeding up the courts and reforming anti-money laundering rules. Her message was that those areas were connected by a common view of state power: protect the public from real harm, hold offenders accountable, respect law-abiding people and cut red tape where it serves no useful purpose.
That framing is politically important for ACT. The party is trying to campaign as both a law-and-order force and a government-efficiency force. McKee's ministerial work lets ACT point to specific areas where it says it has delivered inside the coalition, while her appointment signals continuity after van Velden's departure. The speech also sharpened ACT's competition with Te Pati Maori. McKee, who spoke about both her Maori and British ancestry, said her whakapapa, views and vote were her own.
Seymour praised McKee as a minister who fixes what matters and stands up for overlooked groups. He also used the AGM to launch policy aimed at welfare and the structure of government. ACT wants mandatory money management for Jobseeker Support recipients who remain on a work-ready benefit for more than four months, using a card directed toward essentials such as groceries, rent, power and transport. The party also wants health and disability benefits signed off by an independent pool of MSD-approved doctors rather than a person's own GP.
Those policies will be fiercely debated. Supporters will see them as accountability and discipline around public spending. Critics will see them as punitive, administratively heavy and likely to affect people already dealing with insecure work, disability or complex health needs. The deputy-leader change therefore comes with a clear campaign purpose. McKee is not being introduced as a caretaker; she is being placed at the front of ACT's justice, welfare and red-tape message for the coming election.
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