Published in Insights, The New Zealand Initiative’s newsletter, 23 October 2026
The Herald’s ‘Mood of the Boardroom’ survey has become a fixture in New Zealand’s media calendar. Once a year, the chief executives and chairs of the country’s largest companies deliver their verdict on political leaders.
What has made the past years different is that they are passing judgement on a government led by one of their former peers. National’s leader Christopher Luxon was CEO of Air New Zealand, and his deputy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis, was a senior Fonterra executive before they entered politics.
This combination made the 2026 survey, launched at a large business breakfast in Auckland on Thursday, a remarkable affair. After three years under two former business leaders, the relationship between them and their former colleagues is not what one might expect.
Rather than cheerleading for the National leadership, the business community gave them a mixed, even lukewarm, evaluation.
Luxon does his best work when he is out of the country. He scored 4.31 out of five for promoting New Zealand business abroad. But the Prime Minister managed only 2.31 for political management and 2.12 for uniting the country. One director put it down to his not being ‘a natural communicator’.
Willis did somewhat better. Three in four consider her a credible Finance Minister and her handling of the fuel crisis drew praise.
But the same chairperson who credited her fuel response said Willis’ ‘beating up on the banks, gentailers, Foodstuffs and other successful New Zealand businesses is cheap politics’. Her plan to explore splitting Foodstuffs scored 1.83. That the Greens’ state-owned KiwiMart scored even lower at 1.15 is hardly a consolation.
Crucially, Willis has not tamed spending. Anne Gaze of the Gaze Foundation noted the core public service still employs about 63,000 staff and core spending sits above 32 percent of GDP, against Willis’ 30 percent target. ‘Debt continues to increase,’ said Greg Gent of Dairy Holdings.
Three years ago, business had a fraught relationship with the Labour-led government. Under National, led by two former peers, it is strained again.
Yet business is not biased against government. It recognises good leadership when it sees it. Erica Stanford again topped the ministerial rankings at 4.38 for her education reforms. Todd McClay scored 4.12 for securing the India deal, and Mark Mitchell 4.00 for restoring law and order.
More ministers like them and fewer anti-business policies would earn the next government better marks next year, whoever leads it.
