Not that they didn't stand a chance of making an impact.
The gap was there, as it is today, for a party of the centre right, a party of individual freedoms and thinking, a party of business and aspiration to really cut a slice of the MMP action.
In fact if you are not a political tragic, you may not know that ACT over the years, although never quite getting anywhere close to the dizzying heights of 50 per cent, has in fact been moderately successful.
Their current and recent malaise, as a bit of a 1 per cent joke propped up by a deal with the National Party, is a comparatively recent set of circumstances.
Their first election in 1996, they got Richard Prebble across the line in Wellington Central and collected 6 per cent of the vote.
They say Seymour's turn on Dancing with the Stars won him a lot of fans.
The next election they got 7 per cent, then 7 per cent again in 2002, it was only after that it all started to fall apart, the days of 1 per cent had arrived and the saving grace of an electoral accommodation.
I hope a good one. Because what this country needs is more parties.
MMP has been a disaster, if one of its main claims to fame was the growth of the small political player.
Whether you believe the polls any more after last week's disaster, what we can say is that almost 25 years after the launch of a system designed to encourage and see the success of minor players, it has been a spectacular failure. The old two heavyweights have close to 90 per cent support between them.
We don't like small parties, don't support them, don't vote for them.
From the Alliance to the Māori Party, to Mana, the Internet Party, the Christians, to Act, to United, they've all fallen by the wayside.
If Act has a hope this time round, it is that National are down on their luck.
They are not performing as they should be as an opposition, their leader lacks bite and cut through.
And I refuse to believe that every National voter is an acolyte, there will be some hanging in there from the halcyon days of the John Key era.
And this is the opening for Seymour.
A flat tax is not remotely "broadly" appealing, because anyone earning under $55,000 pays more and we are a low-paid country and a lot of people earn under $55,000 and they don't vote for tax increases.
An education account for every child is classic Act, it's worth looking up and understanding.
It brings accountability and performance to education, it busts the myth that all schools are equal, and allows parents some genuine choice for their kids and allocates state money in an innovative way.
And then of course the headline grabber: free speech.
The cheap claim we saw, that Seymour was after the white supremacist vote, is typical of most of this country's media these days, left-wing saps who embrace the lefts move towards a dangerous path of what to say, how to say it, and who to say it to. A world of permanent upset where the wrong glance, wrong inference, wrong intent, is blown up out of all proportion as they scream blue murder from the rooftops.
Free speech is quintessential Act - and it's a right and privilege worth fighting for.
The relaunch, colours aside, is not a reinvention - it's a restatement.
The party need to shake the old rich white guy image that's dogged them. If they can do that and get heard, then they can get traction.
