10 April 2026 – New Zealand’s first comprehensive ranking of MP LinkedIn performance reveals a striking digital divide between the government and opposition benches.
A new report from Blackland PR and digital communications specialist Seamus Boyer has ranked every New Zealand MP on their LinkedIn performance, exposing wide gaps in how political parties are using the platform.
The MP LinkedIn Power List 2026 analysed the LinkedIn presence of all MPs with findable profiles across 2025, scoring each on profile quality, posting consistency, content impact, network size, content quality, and engagement behaviour. Content quality was weighted most heavily.
“LinkedIn has evolved well beyond a job-hunting or humble-brag platform. With an estimated 3.3 million New Zealand members and comment activity growing 24% in 2025, it has become a place where business leaders, public servants, industry stakeholders, and journalists spend significant time,” says Seamus Boyer.
“LinkedIn offers politicians a relatively high-trust environment to communicate directly with exactly the audiences that shape opinion and policy.”
ACT Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden and National’s Ryan Hamilton shared the top ranking, with ACT punching well above its weight relative to its parliamentary size. National dominated the overall leaderboard, with 18 of the top 25 places. Green MP Francisco Hernández was the standout from the opposition benches, coming in fifth.
In contrast Labour’s performance is strikingly weak. The party’s first representative on the list, Duncan Webb, ranked 24th. Leader Chris Hipkins came in at 68th equal, with his most recent post being from February 2019.
“We understand that Labour has different audiences, but it does want to build its credibility with business. Yet it’s almost completely absent from a key platform well suited to that goal. That’s a significant missed opportunity,” says Nick Gowland from Blackland PR.
And surprisingly, while National has the largest audience on LinkedIn, the party could be doing more.
“Too much content remains reactive rather than using LinkedIn to seed ideas or shape conversations early on. National MPs have the reach. Their opportunity is to be more deliberate about leading discussions and showing up as thought leaders,” says Seamus Boyer.
“The MPs doing this well aren’t just broadcasting announcements. They’re showing up with personality, adding context, engaging in debate, and treating LinkedIn as a genuine conversation platform rather than a noticeboard. The audience rewards that approach,”
The most-engaged post of 2025 was from ACT list MP Laura McClure, whose post about deepfake legislation drew nearly 6,500 engagements.
“The post had a compelling hook, image, and a subject with genuine public interest,” says Seamus Boyer.
“In contrast, the dominant pattern across all parties was “post and ghost,” with MPs posting content but failing to engage with replies or join the conversation in comments. Only 16 MPs engaged consistently and meaningfully.”
Key stats
- 91 MPs with a findable LinkedIn profile
- 27 MPs who didn’t post at all in 2025
- 35 Average posts per MP across the year
- 16 MPs engaging consistently in comments
The full report, including the complete ranking of all 91 MPs and party-by-party analysis, is available at blacklandpr.com and seamus.nz.
About Blackland PR
Blackland PR is a Wellington-based strategic communications consultancy specialising in persuasive communications with real New Zealanders. The firm works across public and private sector organisations on media strategy, stakeholder engagement, and public affairs.
About Seamus Boyer
Seamus Boyer is a digital communications consultant specialising in strategic storytelling and social media for the public sector, working with central and local government clients across New Zealand and Australia. He spent a decade in journalism before moving into communications.
