Greens on top in candidate race as polling day looms
Parties are talking up their roster – but the Greens are walking the talk.
As our MPs swap out their beach towels for briefcases, the race to election day is on. Towards the top of their to-do lists? Signing up candidates ready to deal with the months-long slog of the campaign trail, and no guarantee it will end with a shiny new seat.
Finding the right mix of star power and fresh blood is critical, and parties are already talking up their roster.
NZ First leader Winston Peters has hinted at some heavy hitters being lined up to run – ‘‘You’ll know who they are, they’re prominent people’’ – while new Maori Party president Tuku Morgan has also talked of highprofile candidates in the wings.
But it’s the Green Party that seems to have stolen a march with its quality of candidates.
Human rights lawyer and former United Nations prosecutor Golriz Ghahraman spoke this week about her desire to become the first refugee MP with the party.
Ghahraman is just the latest in a string of high-profile candidates, largely women, to put their hands up for the Greens.
TV presenter and sportswoman Hayley Holt, Auckland mayoral candidate Chloe Swarbrick and former diplomat Leilani Tamu have all joined the party’s candidate pool.
The fresh Green faces are part of the desire for change that propelled James Shaw to the coleadership in 2015.
The party has moved away from its old stereotype of Morrisdancing, tree-hugging hippies, instead trying to present a younger, more professional face to the electorate.
However, while the Greens are well represented by Maori MPs, other whiter, older faces in the caucus reveal room for improvement in terms of diversity and youth.
Ghahraman, Tamu and the others could fill those gaps – provided they can make it through the Greens’ two-month ranking process, where party members decide the order of the list.
There’s also the difficulty of fitting in the new candidates. While the impending retirement of Catherine Delahunty and Steffan Browning will open up two slots, the party will need to improve its election performances markedly to bring in its promising candidates.
The Greens aren’t the only party making interesting moves.
Labour leader Andrew Little’s confirmation that former Police Association boss Greg O’Connor could run for the party, possibly in Peter Dunne’s Ohariu electorate, has ruffled feathers on the left.
O’Connor’s hardline stance on crime and advocacy for arming police will count against him with some Labour voters, and could put a spanner in the works of a deal with the Greens to take down Dunne.
However, with police numbers among the major political issues of 2016, even leading to rare discord within National, O’Connor could be a useful asset for Labour as it tries to outflank the Government on law and order.
For National, the new reign of Bill English and subsequent clearing out of Cabinet ministers has opened up some space for fresh blood.
Perhaps the greatest intrigue surrounds a selection battle in Wellington Central, with incumbent Paul Foster-Bell trying to fight off a challenge from senior Fonterra executive Nicola Willis.
Willis, who acted as a senior adviser to John Key between 2006 and 2010, is seen as a heavy hitter with a strong future in the party.
However, the rumoured candidacy of Jo Coughlan – former Wellington city councillor and the sister-in-law of English – has added an interesting wrinkle.
Could Coughlan’s familial ties now outweigh Willis’ history with Key under the new PM?
With the trickle of candidate announcements set to increase to a flood as election day nears, don’t rule out more compelling candidates coming forward. Shane Jones for NZ First, anyone?
With the Mt Albert by-election campaign beginning now, and the general election later this year, it is time to bring an end to Jacinda Ardern and David Seymour’s weekly Counterpunch column. We thank them for their smart and civil debates. – Jonathan Milne, Editor