Party-endorsed candidates hit back

Palmerston North’s party-endorsed city council candidates have hit back at mayor Grant Smith’s plea for voters to choose independent candidates.

The Labour Party team of Sheryll Hoera, Zulfiqar Butt, David Chisholm and Lorna Johnson said the mayor should not get ‘‘bogged down’’ making negative statements about people in the running to work with him on council.

Smith said at a mayoral candidates meeting that voters should support people for their personal attributes and their track records.

He said Palmerston North had no appetite for central Government politics meddling on council.

Hoera said the candidates were standing as a team for Labour so people knew what they stood for.

Green Party candidate Brent Barrett said he believed he would have had a good chance of being elected if he had stood as an independent.

But he believed it was more open and honest to let people know what he stood for, and declare his values.

For the Labour candidates, having a strong campaign team behind them was seen as a method to give people from diverse backgrounds a chance of winning.

‘‘Personally, I would not have stood if I wasn’t part of the team,’’ said Hoera.

‘‘I don’t have anyone who can donate thousands of dollars to my campaign. I’m relying on the people power a team can deliver.’’

Hoera accepted there had been divisions on earlier councils when people who professed no political allegiance nevertheless formed blocs on council.

Hoera said she agreed with Smith that voters should look at candidates’ qualifications and track records.

She said the members of the Labour team all had personal strengths and connections into communities that were not necessarily well-represented when candidates ran independently.