The best, worst and weirdest

Highs, lows and oddities from a frenetic campaign.

WORST BILLBOARDS

David Seymour, Act: Seymour is not a bad looking dude but, for some reason, in every photo he seems a mixture of happy but confused. Like he’s been punched in the face and is trying to hold back the tears. Honourable mentions: Winston Peters: A picture of his face and then the words ‘‘Had Enough?’’ might be taken the wrong way. Jacinda Ardern: White clothes in front of white background had a real Gloriavale vibe to it. National put a ‘‘Delivering for New Zealanders’’ Billboard on the side of the Auckland City Mission. I wish I was making this up. 1st= Everyone: All the parties really struggled this year. ‘‘Let’s do this?’’ was very vague for a Labour party short on details. In my mind, ‘‘Delivering for New Zealanders’’ should have come with the caveat that National doesn’t count the homeless and beneficiaries as ‘‘New Zealanders’’. The Greens had to drop ‘‘Better together’’ really quickly after co-leader Metiria Turei’s shock resignation, and I’ve already mentioned how strange ‘‘Had Enough?’’ looked for Peters’ NZ First, especially for a politician who’s been around for 30+ years. Minor parties debate on TVNZ: Mike Hosking didn’t show up, Gareth Morgan was left shouting from the sidelines and the Greens were the only party present who were polling over one per cent. I hate to say it, but it desperately needed a bit of Peters’ razzle dazzle! And by razzle dazzle, I mean ‘‘Yelling about crime, and a sprinkling of casual racism’’. The most interesting bit was when United Future’s leader Damian Light caught himself before he claimed his party had ‘‘negotiated the final solution’’. Peters: After Labour stole Winnie’s traditional

STUFF, GETTY IMAGES Left to right: James Shaw’s Greens promised a billion new trees, David Seymour has a face that doesn’t suit photos, and Winston Peters’ NZ First billboards had the potential to backfire.