National spends final weekend of campaign like it’s spent so much of this term – fighting with its partners

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Opinion

Opinion by

Thomas Coughlan

Political Editor·NZ Herald·

1 Nov, 2026 10:00 PM5 mins to read

Thomas Coughlan, Political Editor at the New Zealand Herald, loves applying a political lens to people's stories and explaining the way things like transport and finance touch our lives.

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Christopher Luxon at the Diwali Festival in Aotea Square, Auckland. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

National spent the final weekend of the election campaign as it had much of the current term: fighting with its coalition partners.

National, flabbergasted that Act and NZ First approved third-party ads in the Herald which advocated for right-leaning voters to split their votes (electorate voting National, but