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MP LinkedIn Power List 2026: New Zealand's first ranking of every MP on LinkedIn
 

Image by Souvik Banerjee

 

10 April 2026

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Blackland PR and digital communications specialist Seamus Boyer analysed the LinkedIn presence of all 91 MPs with findable profiles. The findings reveal a striking digital divide between the government and opposition benches — and a platform that most MPs are still significantly underusing.

 

ACT Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden and National's Ryan Hamilton shared the top ranking. ACT punches well above its parliamentary weight, with three MPs in the top ten. National dominates the leaderboard overall, taking 18 of the top 25 places and six of the top ten.

 

Labour's performance tells a different story. The party's first representative on the list, Duncan Webb, ranked 24th. For a party trying to rebuild its economic credibility and reconnect with business audiences, it's a significant missed opportunity on a platform purpose-built for exactly that goal.

 

Green MP Francisco Hernández was the standout from the opposition benches, ranked fifth — but the party's performance drops away sharply after him.

 

The dominant pattern across all parties was "post and ghost" — MPs posting content but failing to engage with replies or join comment discussions. Only 16 MPs engaged consistently and meaningfully. The most-engaged post of 2025 came from ACT list MP Laura McClure, whose post on deepfake legislation drew nearly 6,500 engagements.

 

LinkedIn offers politicians a relatively high-trust environment to communicate directly with the audiences that shape opinion and policy. But most MPs are barely showing up.

 

The lessons:

  • LinkedIn has evolved far beyond a job-hunting platform. With 3.3 million New Zealand members and growing engagement, it is now a high-trust channel for reaching the audiences that shape policy and opinion.

  • Personal accounts consistently outperform party or institutional pages. Political impact on LinkedIn comes from individual MPs building voice, credibility, and visibility — not from party branding.

  • Content quality matters more than volume. The MPs performing best aren't just broadcasting announcements — they're showing up with personality, adding context, engaging in debate, and treating LinkedIn as a genuine conversation platform.

  • Consistency compounds. Bursts of posting followed by weeks of silence limit momentum and reach. A steady presence builds trust and influence over time.

  • "Post and ghost" is the biggest missed opportunity. Genuine engagement — responding to comments, joining discussions, sharing the spotlight — is what separates the top performers from the rest.

  • Opposition parties face the most urgent challenge. Labour's near-absence on a platform well-suited to business and policy audiences is a strategic gap. The Greens are underutilising a natural base of public servants and purpose-driven professionals who are already interested in the issues they champion.​

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