As New Zealand moves toward its 2026 election, two of the country's most seasoned political journalists are finding that the race defied early predictions of apathy and settled into something far more consequential — tight polling, genuine wildcards, and a press corps newly conscious of its own historical role. Tova O'Brien and Jack Tame, launching a joint vodcast to cover the campaign, see in this election not blandness but urgency, not disengagement but a disgruntled public searching for direction. Their read suggests that the distance between what democracies fear about themselves and what
O'Brien and Tame predict 'scrappy' 2026 election as political journalists launch vodcast
thrilling, do-or-die and scrappy
Mark
So they're saying this election will be scrappy and do-or-die. What does that actually mean for voters watching from home?
Mimi
It means the outcome isn't predetermined. There are real races that could go either way, and the final weeks will matter. It's not a coronation; it's a fight.
Luke
But they're also saying people thought it would be bland. So is it actually scrappy, or are they just hoping it will be?
Mimi
Fair point. They're forecasting based on tight polling and specific wildcards—Mt Albert, the Opportunity Party's 5 percent threshold, inflation data dropping in October. Those are real variables.
Mark
What's the Mt Albert thing about?
Mimi
Qiulae Wong, the Opportunity Party leader, is running in a Labour seat that nearly flipped National last time. If she wins, it's a huge story. If she doesn't, she might split the vote and make the race even tighter.
Luke
But that's one electorate. How does that make the whole election scrappy?
Mimi
It's a symbol. If a traditionally safe seat becomes competitive, it suggests the whole political landscape is more fluid than expected.
Mark
They kept talking about press freedom and Watergate. Why does that matter for an election vodcast?
Mimi
Because they're saying political journalism's job is to hold power accountable. When they compare the White House Press Pool's recent defense of press freedom to Watergate, they're saying that work is as important as the election itself.
Luke
But they didn't explain what the current press freedom challenge actually is. They just named it.
Mimi
True. That's something the vodcast will probably dig into.
Mark
What did you make of them complimenting each other?
Mimi
It felt genuine. Tame called O'Brien tenacious and principled. O'Brien said Tame is the master of long-form interviews. They clearly respect each other's work.
Luke
But they're launching a vodcast together. Of course they're going to say nice things. The real test is whether the vodcast itself is any good.
The Pulse
- An election widely feared to be dull and apathetic has instead sharpened into something tight, reactive, and genuinely unpredictable — the gap between expectation and reality is itself the story.
- The Opportunity Party's Qiulae Wong running in Mt Albert — a Labour stronghold that nearly flipped last cycle — threatens to inject a vote-splitting wildcard into an already high-stakes contest.
- Late-breaking economic signals, including October inflation data and a Reserve Bank rate decision just ten days before polling, could reshape voter sentiment in the final stretch.
- Both journalists frame the moment as one where press freedom itself is on the line, drawing a direct line from the White House Press Pool's coordinated stand to the watershed accountability of Watergate.
- O'Brien and Tame are not just covering the election — they are modeling, through their own collaboration, what principled competition in political journalism can look like when the stakes are high enough.
As New Zealand moves toward its 2026 election, two of the country's most seasoned political journalists are finding that the race defied early predictions of apathy and settled into something far more consequential — tight polling, genuine wildcards, and a press corps newly conscious of its own historical role. Tova O'Brien and Jack Tame, launching a joint vodcast to cover the campaign, see in this election not blandness but urgency, not disengagement but a disgruntled public searching for direction. Their read suggests that the distance between what democracies fear about themselves and what they actually produce in the crucible of a close race is often where the real story lives.
Tova O'Brien and Jack Tame are launching an Election 2026 vodcast together, and when 1News turned the cameras on them, what emerged was a portrait of a campaign that started looking forgettable and grew into something with real teeth. Asked to describe the election in three words, Tame offered oppositional, reactive, disgruntled. O'Brien's answer was more layered: people feared bland and apathetic, she said, but the reality is thrilling, do-or-die, scrappy. The race is close. The unknowns are many.
The conversation ranged across craft and influence. Tame named Jeremy Paxman, Kim Hill, and Maggie Haberman as the journalists he admires most — then singled out O'Brien's own reporting on the Paora Goldsmith affair as the greatest New Zealand political report ever made. O'Brien deflected the individual accolade, arguing that journalism is always bigger than any one person, and pointed to the White House Press Pool's recent unified defense of press freedom as a moment that rivals Watergate in its significance. Her compliment to Tame was almost offhand: he's right up there.
On the question of dark horses, Tame pointed to Statistics New Zealand — inflation data in late October and a Reserve Bank rate call ten days before polling could reshape the final weeks entirely. O'Brien named Mt Albert. The Opportunity Party's leader Qiulae Wong is contesting a seat that nearly flipped to National last election, and if she can win the electorate outright, the party clears its perennial 5 percent threshold problem in one move. That possibility, O'Brien suggested, is the race's most suspenseful thread.
Lighter moments surfaced too. O'Brien recalled a 2014 election-night dress emergency — too short, stapled together, and still intact as she chased Winston Peters into an elevator for a live cross that was more telling-off than interview. Tame's sharpest memory was from 2016: the stunned faces of Hillary Clinton supporters leaving what was supposed to be her victory party. Both journalists, it turns out, have learned as much from watching each other work as from any book or broadcast — O'Brien still searches Tame's interviews before her own big ones, studying how he prepares exhaustively and then simply shows up present. He's the master, she said.
Two of New Zealand's most recognizable political journalists are stepping into a new format this election cycle, and their read on what's coming is bracing: scrappy, oppositional, and far more alive than anyone expected. Tova O'Brien and Jack Tame are launching an Election 2026 vodcast, and when 1News turned the tables and grilled them on what they're seeing, the picture that emerged was of a campaign that started looking dull but has developed real teeth.
O'Brien and Tame were asked to describe the election's character in three words. Tame offered: oppositional, reactive, disgruntled. O'Brien's answer was more layered. People worry it will be bland, apathetic, uninspiring, she said—but the reality is different. The race is tight. There are too many unknowns. What emerges, she predicted, is thrilling, do-or-die, scrappy. That gap between what people feared and what's actually unfolding seems to be the story both journalists are tracking.
When asked to name the greatest political journalist, Tame pointed to three figures—Jeremy Paxman and Kim Hill as interviewers, Maggie Haberman as a reporter—but then singled out O'Brien's own reporting on the Paora Goldsmith fiasco as the undisputed greatest New Zealand political report of all time. O'Brien deflected the GOAT question itself, arguing that political journalism is always bigger than any individual, that the work matters most when journalists compete but unite around principle. She cited the White House Press Pool's recent coordinated defense of press freedom as proof that such moments rival Watergate in their significance. The compliment to Tame was buried in her answer, almost offhand: he's right up there.
Both journalists drew on different wells when asked about influential political reading. Tame chose Robert Caro's The Power Broker, the sprawling account of Robert Moses and New York's transformation. O'Brien named two New Zealand documentaries she returns to: Campaign, about the 1996 Wellington Central race, and the Revolution series, which traces the country's economic and social upheaval from the 1980s into the early 1990s. The choices suggest they're thinking about power, structure, and how change actually happens.
When asked what they'd learned from watching each other work, both gave answers that spoke to craft and presence. Tame described O'Brien as tenacious, principled, connected, charismatic, tough—someone who won't be moved by spin or angle in an industry built on both. O'Brien spoke about Tame's long-form interview technique. She still searches his name before her own big political interviews, she said, studying how he researches, structures questions, agonizes over detail, then somehow banks all that knowledge and simply shows up fully present in the conversation itself. He's the master, she said.
The conversation turned lighter when they were asked for election-night memories. O'Brien recalled the 2014 NZ First party, where she'd panic-bought a dress that was too short, stapled it together, and then chased Winston Peters and his entourage into an elevator as they arrived. It was less interview than a telling-off from Peters, she said, but they were first and they were live—and the dress held. Tame's memory was from 2016: the bewildered faces of Hillary Clinton supporters leaving what was supposed to be her victory party.
Asked which political dark horse might shift the race in coming weeks, Tame pointed to Statistics New Zealand—specifically, the inflation data dropping in late October and the Reserve Bank's interest rate decision ten days before polling day. O'Brien named Mt Albert. The Opportunity Party is the obvious wildcard, she noted, given the party's struggle to clear the 5 percent threshold in three consecutive elections. But the real dark horse is the electorate itself. Opportunity's leader Qiulae Wong is running in Mt Albert, a historically safe Labour seat that nearly flipped to National last time. Could Wong win it? Could she split the vote and make an already high-stakes race even more suspenseful? That's the question.
When asked which interview still made them sweat, Tame described conducting an interview with Australia's then Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop while sitting in a dentist's chair mid-procedure. He'd been working to secure the interview for months. When she called an hour early, he asked the dentist to stop, sat up, and exaggeratedly annunciated his questions to counter the anaesthetic. O'Brien's answer was simpler: any interview where she's the one being asked the questions.
Notable Quotes
people are worried it will be bland, apathetic and uninspiring. But because it's so close, with so many wildcards it will actually be thrilling, do-or-die and scrappy— Tova O'Brien
She is tenacious AF! And in an industry where everyone is always spinning a yarn or working an angle, Tova won't be moved. She is principled, connected, charismatic, and tough.— Jack Tame, on Tova O'Brien
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