The openly gay lawyer and former National candidate is provisionally headed for Parliament with ACT, despite trailing in the Tāmaki electorate contest.
James Christmas looks set to enter Parliament through ACT’s party list, opening a new chapter in a political career that has taken him from advising National prime ministers to campaigning for David Seymour’s party.
Ranked seventh on ACT’s final list, Christmas sits comfortably within the party’s current projected allocation of 13 seats.
At our 11.24pm NZDT check on Saturday 7 November, the Electoral Commission’s preliminary nationwide count, with 92.1 per cent of results reported, put ACT on 11.01 per cent of the party vote. Its projected 13 seats comprise one electorate seat and 12 list seats. Those figures remain preliminary, but they give Christmas a clear prospective route into the House.
A List Path After Tāmaki Battle
The picture in Tāmaki is different.
With 69 of 80 returns reported, National’s Mahesh Muralidhar leads with 14,660 votes, followed by Labour’s Max Harris on 9,267. Christmas is third on 7,321.
That leaves him 7,339 votes behind Muralidhar in the latest verified electorate snapshot.
Christmas sought to succeed ACT’s Brooke van Velden, who won the seat in 2023 and is not seeking re-election. His list ranking means his prospects of entering Parliament do not depend on winning that contest.
From National To ACT
Christmas’s likely arrival would follow years working close to the centre of government.
A barrister specialising in public law and national security, he served as a senior adviser to John Key and Bill English. Earlier, he worked for Attorney-General and Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson.
Christmas and Finlayson also co-authored He Kupu Taurangi: Treaty Settlements and the Future of Aotearoa New Zealand.
He stood as a National list candidate in 2023 but did not enter Parliament. This year, he switched to ACT and secured its Tāmaki candidacy.
His campaign has emphasised accessible local representation, infrastructure, safer streets and shops, and a smaller public sector. Those priorities now form the platform on which he could move from adviser to MP.
Another Openly Gay Voice
For rainbow New Zealanders, Christmas’s prospective election would bring another openly gay politician into Parliament from the centre-right.
YOUR EX reported his openly gay identity when National announced his candidacy in 2023. His political journey has since changed parties, while his legal and government experience remains central to his public profile.
His entry is still projected rather than officially confirmed. Special votes and the checking of ordinary votes can alter party totals and list allocations before the official results are released on Friday 27 November.
For now, ACT’s preliminary result puts Christmas firmly on course for a parliamentary seat.
