Vanessa Weenink says National has shifted too far right after losing Banks Peninsula

Outgoing Banks Peninsula MP Vanessa Weenink has delivered a blunt assessment of National’s direction after losing her seat in Saturday’s election. Speaking to reporters as she returned to Parliament for a farewell caucus, she said some voters in her electorate felt the party had lost its way and moved too far to the right. “There were people there telling us that literally hate us,” Weenink said, describing reactions to the campaign. Others, she recalled, told her National had once seemed more reasonable and was now listening too much to its coalition partners, ACT and New Zealand First. Weenink said she shared concerns about the party’s direction, though she would not necessarily endorse every criticism raised by constituents. She described herself as a centrist voice within National and warned that the party could lose urban, liberal-minded voters if it failed to make room for people with different views. She also argued that MPs from closely contested electorates play an important role in bringing uncomfortable feedback to party leaders. Representatives need to hear from people who disagree with them, she said, and be willing to relay what voters may not want their leaders to hear. Weenink said she had been prepared to do that privately with the prime minister. The departing MP warned that a poor election result could prompt National to focus even more heavily on its existing base. She said voters were tired of political bickering and wanted politicians to concentrate on practical issues rather than internal disputes. The article also reports that the Opportunity party had tried to recruit her as a candidate.