RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson will resign after 13 years in the job, board chair Jim Mather announced this morning.

Mather says while the decision for Thompson to resign at the end of 2026 was made in December of last year, the announcement has been pulled forward by "recent unhelpful external commentary about his future".

Deputy prime minister and ACT Party leader David Seymour, who is also a shareholding minister in RNZ, has criticised the public broadcaster's board and chief executive in recent months, and speculated earlier in the month that Thompson "won't be answering the call at RNZ for much longer."

David Seymour joins Jack Tame. Watch more of Q+A's interview with David Seymour on Sunday.