By Mel Taylor and Elliot Ikilei

I have never seen such division amongst the conservative voters, or the conception of so many political parties to cater for them.

Never.

The last 12 months have seen the emergence of multiple political parties who are each battling to gain the votes of people predominantly from the right-leaning side of life; conservatives, freedom fighters, Christians, conspiracy theorists, etc.

Voters now have the option of voting for:

Act, Democracy NZ, Freedoms New Zealand, New Conservative, NZ First, One Party, National, Leighton Baker Party (soon to be registered) or Liz Gunn who is looking to form New Zealand Loyal.

4 out of the 9 parties have only been established within the past 12 months, or are looking to establish soon, with Democracy NZ being the first off the start line.

While acknowledging that Freedoms New Zealand has collaborated to include Vision New Zealand, New Nation Party and the NZ Outdoors Party, one would not be mistaken for thinking that  unity on the right has officially been thrown out the window, stomped on and disregarded.

Not only can right-wing/conservative leadership in New Zealand not unite, but the same applies to right-wing/conservative voters.

Social media is alight with people arguing, trash talking, gas lighting each other and each political party.

Labour and the Greens must be sitting and back laughing, while becoming more confident in their own possible election victory at the expense of the division amongst ‘the other side’.

Previous elections have seen minor parties implode over and over again with political Boards dividing, leadership changes, candidates attempting coups, Party members aligning and causing havoc for political Boards and leadership, nepotism within the ranks and so on. In fact, some people have actually attempted to divide and annihilate multiple minor parties.

So, what’s the solution?

Sadly, I really don’t think there is one for the 2023 Election.

However, there is always hope, if wisdom and learning from history is applied.

Moving forward from this election, there are actually many solutions. One for example could possibly be to have everyone interested in becoming a political leader put  their name forward, have a pre-election campaign with debates, policies, interviews etc, and a voting system be implemented for the people to vote in not only a key leader, but also the beginning of a Party list. Similar to the way American politics works.

Regardless, if a solution is not found soon, this country will only continue to decline in ways that affect our freedoms, our economy, and the lives of not only us as individuals, but also our families and our future generations.

At the end of the day, I won’t say “may the best man/woman win”, as unfortunately for voters, there are quite a few good leaders and policies amongst the array of minor Parties.

So here’s hoping for an absolute miracle and that a minor Party actually gets in, so at the very least we, the freedom fighters, the conservatives, the Christians and the right wingers will finally have some desperately needed representation in Parliament.

If that doesn’t happen, then here’s hoping that the minor Parties get their act together and their egos under control, and work towards unity in the next one.