The Alliance Party has welcomed the announcement of the 2026 General Election date of 7 November, saying that it is ready to offer New Zealanders a genuine social democratic alternative to the failed policies of the status quo.
Alliance Party President Victor Billot says the return of the Alliance comes at a critical time as working people are being crushed by a cost-of-living crisis.
This Government has waged war on the majority while rolling out the red carpet for the already wealthy and powerful, he says.
“We have seen a sustained attack on public services, an ongoing housing crisis, and stagnating wages and jobs. It is a government of the rich, for the rich, that shows contempt for the needs of the working people who are the backbone of New Zealand.”
Mr Billot says the Alliance provides a voice for those who have been abandoned by the long-term shift to the right in New Zealand politics.
“We are seeing record profits for overseas-owned banks and supermarket duopolies while families struggle to put food on the table. The political establishment – both the anti-worker Government and a timid and compromised Opposition – refuses to challenge the economic structures that create this inequality.”
“The Alliance is not afraid to say that the system is broken, and we are not afraid to offer real solutions.”
The Alliance is campaigning on bold, practical solutions to the cost-of-living crisis, including:
- Tax Justice: Tax reform to take the tax burden off the working majority and a wealth tax to ensure the super-rich pay their fair share to keep the country running.
- Public Ownership: Halting asset sales and taking back control of our energy, transport and infrastructure to serve people, not private profit.
- Housing for All: A massive investment in state housing.
- Free Public Services: Free healthcare and education, funded by a fair tax system.
“We don’t need tinkering, we need transformation,” says Mr Billot.
“The Alliance is bringing an unapologetic message back to the electorate. New Zealand can be a country where everyone has enough, where our environment is protected, and where the economy operates in the service of the community.”
The Alliance will officially launch its campaign and manifesto at its National Conference in Christchurch on 14 February 2026.
The Party confirmed it will be standing electorate candidates in key seats across the country, ensuring that voters have the chance to cast a vote for real change.
“We invite every New Zealander who is tired of their future being sold out to join us.”
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Social Democratic? Not socialist or Democratic Socialist
Hi Marney, we don’t want to get too focussed on the terminology but the Alliance could both be described as a “left” Social Democratic Party or a democratic socialist party in policy terms. In terms of social democracy, there are other parties that claim this ideology but are basically neoliberal in their assumptions. (Victor)
No thanks I will vote National in 2026 they deserve another term to still clean up the mess of the last Labour govt.
Thanks for your response Hayden. Any reason why you think they are cleaning up a mess, after all we are seeing even worse results in unemployment, wages stagnating, public services under attack like firefighters especially in the last year. Are you sure that the National Government is concerned about you? (Victor)
Under Labour
Inflation was over 7% now it’s under 3.1% under National and in 2024 and 2025 it was under 2.5% inflation.
And the unemployment rate is always been bad under both Labour and National govts go back to the 2000’s, 2010’s, 2020’s and you’ll see the how bad it was under Clark, Key, Ardern and now under Luxon.
Hi Hayden, thanks for keeping the conversation going.
It is important to make a clear distinction first: the Alliance is not the Labour Party. We agree that the last Government failed to fix fundamental problems in our economy, but handing the keys to National hasn’t “cleaned up” the mess for working people, it has just increased the burden on us.
While inflation has dropped, we have to look at the price paid for that. Inflation is not the only measure of an economy’s health. The current lower rate has been achieved by deliberately inducing a recession, driving up unemployment, and suppressing wages. That is a political choice to make workers and families pay the price for stabilising prices, rather than taxing the excess profits of the banks and supermarkets that drove prices up in the first place.
Under this National Government, GDP per capita has gone backwards, young educated Kiwis are leaving for Australia in record numbers because they see no future here, and our essential public services are being hollowed out to pay for tax cuts that mostly benefit landlords and high-income earners.
It is easy for a Prime Minister who is personally “sorted” and wealthy to say the economy is on the right track.
He doesn’t feel the pain of a redundancy, a missed mortgage payment, or a hospital waiting list. But for the working class and middle-income families actually generating the wealth in this country, the “mess” is getting bigger, not smaller.
We think New Zealanders deserve better than a choice between a rock and a hard place. (Victor)
It’s past time we had some truly ambitious leadership. I for one will be watching with great interest and quite keen to get involved