1 June, 2026

Opportunity Party’s Shore candidate takes first steps

North Shore resident Holly Knill attracted a good crowd – including a mini-van of seniors from a retirement village – at her first public meeting as The Opportunity Party (Top) candidate in the local electorate.
With Top so far polling below the 5 per cent threshold for entry to Parliament, Knill (pictured) knows she has her work cut out, but she senses people dissatisfied with “New Zealand feeling a bit shit” will deploy their party vote in favour of new ideas.
She says reaction to date has been positive, with the meeting she held in Takapuna early this month drawing a diverse group of around 100 people.
The Top message is one of “economic competence and climate responsibility,” she says.
She already has a local network through business connections and Stanley Bay Primary School, where her nine-year-old daughter is a pupil.
Knill was co-opted on to the school board, but will step down in September to focus on her campaign ahead of the November general election.
She also mentors other women in their careers and is on the Springboard Trust, which helps principals on strategic leadership.

After attending Westlake Girls High School and university, Knill worked in television newsrooms, spending much of her career in senior broadcasting roles overseas.
She was involved in setting up streaming services for Sky Go in the UK in its early days and in Olympic Games coverage.
After five years in Australia, she was lured home during Covid lockdowns for a role at Two Degrees
“I did my two weeks in an isolation hotel with a four-and-a-half-year-old,” she groans.
The family settled on the Devonport peninsula, attracted by village life and proximity to the sea. Knill went on to embark on a masters degree looking at improving productivity. She was also called in to help Television New Zealand with a transformation strategy.
Through these lenses – and in interviewing 50 top business leaders for the degree she completed in March – she became concerned “that everyone was so down on everything”.
“It was like something of a confessional,” she said of hearing their frustrations. Minister of Finance Nicola Willis asked for a summary of her thesis.

Running as a candidate was not on her to-do list, but after conversations across the political spectrum about “how the hell can we fix this,” the idea took root. “More of the same isn’t working for us,” she says. “Kiwis are voting by their wings.”
She wants government to provide the right policy settings for business, including through R&D tax credits.
During trips to markets and walks on the beach, Knill has heard concerns about power costs and the need for renewable energy along with the disconnect between intensification and infrastructure provision.

“Environment is a big issue and this is where National has played a poor hand – we can’t fish in seas that don’t have baby snapper.”
Top wants tax reform and longer-term strategic thinking. It chose a new leader last year in Qiulae Wong, who worked at KPMG. Knill says Wong is gaining traction as the party looks to claim a middle-ground “Teal” vote.
For some people the party still has to shake-off the legacy of founder Gareth Morgan and his infamous anti-cat campaign.“I have two lovely fluffy Birmans at home,” says Knill.

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