During the lead-up to the 2017 general election, Elliott Ikilei had been designated as the Conservative candidate at a cross-party debate in March 2017 organised by the University of Auckland's Debating Society. However, the Conservatives were disinvited due to a decision to limit participants to parties that were represented in the New Zealand Parliament. During a subsequent debate held at the University of Auckland, Ikilei advocated a pro-life stance on abortion and supported citizen-initiated referenda. In June 2017, Ikilei was appointed as the Conservative Party's Deputy Leader and nominated as the party's candidate in the Manurewa electorate. During the 2017 election, the Manurewa seat was won by Labour PartyMember of ParliamentLouisa Wall; with Ikilei only winning 342 votes. The Conservatives performed poorly during the election, winning only 0.2% of the party vote and failing to win a seat in Parliament.
Post-2017 election
After the Conservatives rebranded themselves as the New Conservatives, Ikilei defended controversial far-right Canadian Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux, who had been denied public speaking venues during their tour of Auckland in July 2018. In August 2018, Ikilei seconded former National and ACT parties leader Don Brash during a debate on free speech and "political correctness" at the University of Auckland, which attracted the attention of protesters. In October 2018, Ikilei was designated as the party's candidate for the scheduled Botany by-election, triggered by Jami-Lee Ross resigning from the National Party. However, the by-election did not go ahead since Ross opted to remain in Parliament as an independent candidate.
2020 general election
In April 2020, the party announced Ikilei as their candidate for the new electorate that had been created following population changes.
Political views
Elliot Ikilei is socially conservative, taking a traditional stance on abortion, the family, law and order, welfare and transgender issues. In April 2019, Ikilei was temporarily suspended from Twitter for tweeting "'Trans women’ are men with dysphoria/disorder, to be treated with compassion and tolerance"; a remark which many regarded as transphobic. Ikilei has defended controversial Australian rugby player Israel Folau's opposition to homosexuality. Ikilei has described free speech as a cornerstone of Western culture. He has also advocated tough on crime policies and opposed so-called "race-based" policies including Māori seats.
