I think overhangs are inevitable if you’re going to combine electorates with a party vote, and until now they’ve been accepted fairly gracefully as a natural byproduct of the system we have.

I think people can try to engineer an overhang but it’s a double-edged sword: National now seems to regret the Epsom arrangement and in general the current possibility of an arrangement where they get many electorates but not much party vote means that they have to contend with the rise of Act and NZ First as significant right wing parties.

Any change towards a system that favours a two-party arrangement is one I’m not in favour of — it is good that we have representation of many perspectives in parliament, even if I disagree with at least half of them.

I’m still okay with the current system (though I want ranked choice voting rather than FPP) and I resent having to argue to defend it simply because this guy is splashing his money around.