David Seymour and Chlöe Swarbrick had a lighthearted moment while appearing on AM after the ACT leader offered the Green MP some sage advice ahead of potentially becoming the new co-leader.
It comes after current Green Party co-leader James Shaw announced last month that he plans to stand down from the position next month.
Seymour and Swarbrick joined AM on Monday morning for their weekly political panel where the Greens' leadership contest was discussed.
Seymour was asked if he would recommend becoming a party leader and what advice he would offer Swarbrick.
"You do end up working harder than if you're not a leader because you have to be up, you have to front, ultimately it comes back to you and you also become responsible for a whole lot of other admin stuff within your party and conflicts, what people want you to do this and that," Seymour explained.
"So it's definitely like being an MP, but just kind of more. On the other hand, you have a chance to shape where your party goes and put out ideas that might not otherwise get debated. I've been lucky to be able to do that with quite a few issues over the years."
Seymour then had a lighthearted moment with Swarbrick when he explained why the Greens have dipped in the latest political poll.
"With a little bit of luck, the Greens recent polling dip is only because voters are worried you might not become the new leader and as soon as you are, you'll have lots of great opportunities," Seymour said.
Responding to Seymour's comments, Swarbrick said "I'll take that, I think" before bursting out laughing.
The latest New Zealand Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll was carried out between February 1-7, a period dominated by two political events - Waitangi Day and shock resignations inside the Green Party.
The results showed the Greens were down substantially to 9.0 percent – a drop of 4.8 points.
But when asked if she thinks the dip in polling is down to voters being worried she won't become the new leader, Swarbrick played down the results
"People should not watch the polls but realise we are the polls. These are not a self-fulfilling prophecy. They only become that if people take them as destiny," she said.
"I think it's also important to just from a data and analytical perspective to take polls with a grain of salt and to put them in the context of the broader trend of polls. This one seems to go against that trend. So if we had to kind of bundle a few of them together, that do come out in the next few weeks, then I think that we'll have a greater sense of where things are and where sentiment is out there in the community."
Watch the full interview above.
