The Alliance Party has selected Josh Harford as its candidate for Wellington North in the 2026 General Election.

A lifelong Wellingtonian and hospitality worker, Harford says he is standing because too many young New Zealanders are being locked out of a secure future by a political establishment that offers little more than managed decline.

“I grew up learning about a New Zealand with guts and vision, a country that stood up for what was right internationally and looked after its own people at home,” Harford said.

“I can’t sit back and watch that future be stripped away. My priority is fierce advocacy for genuine structural reform that makes an immediate difference in people’s lives.”

Harford said the Alliance was offering a clear alternative for voters who want deep change rather than more tinkering around the edges.

Key Alliance priorities include:

Tax justice: overhauling the regressive tax system to make it fairer.

Constitutional and electoral reform: strengthening democratic participation and accountability.

Criminal justice reform: building a system focused on rehabilitation and fairness.

An independent foreign policy: ensuring New Zealand speaks with a principled and self-reliant voice in the world.

Alliance Party Leader Victor Billot welcomed Harford’s selection and said his candidacy reflected growing support for the party among younger New Zealanders.

“Josh will be 20 years old at the time of the General Election on 7 November,” Billot said.

“It is encouraging to see intelligent, motivated young New Zealanders like Josh coming forward. It shows Alliance principles are resonating with a new generation.”

The Alliance Party, relaunched in 2025, is positioning itself as a democratic socialist alternative in the 2026 election campaign.

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