I have a very clear statement.
A vote for New Conservatives is too risky for anyone wanting a right-wing government. If NC had an electorate seat, this would not be the case. 99% of lefties are voting Labour or Green. The wasted vote on the right may lose the election. #nzpol

NC have a valuable contribution to make. However, they have not succeeded in using the MMP rules to their advantage. With an electorate seat they could have taken many South Auckland conservatives from Labour. There were safe National seats that NC could have negotiated.

National have known this for three years. They can only blame themselves if the right-wing vote ends up larger than the left but the right ends up with less seats.