Veteran Dalziel sees off her rivals
Arguably it was never a fair fight – a battle between someone with political experience and those effectively waving placards bearing hollow promises she knew they couldn’t keep.
As the apparent champion of the business community, Park – a Crusaders board member, pub owner and former bigwig at Air New Zealand – was her prime target. She repeatedly took aim at how he would fulfil his promise to slash rates increases to nothing, leaving him offering muddled proposals from winding back cycleways programmes to a ‘‘bonfire of the nice-to-haves’’ by getting rid of unnecessary council expenditure like community barbecues.
While Park’s plans proved tempting to many voters, Minto’s proposals for free buses, more social housing and swimmable rivers – while all eminently laudable – were not enough to sway people at the ballot box.
Dalziel may now be heading towards the twilight of her political career, but she will not be able to bask in the sunset – there is much to do in Christchurch, not least the tricky issue of negotiations with the Government over chlorination of the city’s water supply.
The race for the mayoralty of Christchurch was defined by wild claims, underscored by scandal, and occasionally veered towards petty squabbling that bordered on accusations of outright cheating.
It ultimately ended as a straight contest between the tried and tested Lianne Dalziel and the Pied Pipers – those who banked on charming rhetoric and lofty claims to woo voters.
For a while those merry tunes looked certain to throw Dalziel’s bid for a third term as mayor off course. Promises of zero rates rises and improvements to infrastructure were attractive to many who have become increasingly bitter about the seemingly endless battering their bank balances have taken to fund the city’s post-quake rebuild.
But it was Dalziel, the matriarch of Christchurch politics, who won out, her 44,811 votes a resounding win over main rivals, businessman Darryll Park – her nearest contender with 28,260 votes – and veteran activist John Minto, with 8739. The margin is substantially down on the 62,407 lead she had over Minto three years ago, but this time there were 10 more names than the three options for voters in 2016.
Her campaign was also doubtless damaged by her perceived handling of the scandal around her protege, councillor Deon Swiggs, who lost his seat following allegations of improper behaviour, claims he denies. The mayor appeared to distance herself from him yesterday, saying the loss of his seat was ‘‘inevitable’’ and that he has ‘‘obviously had some challenging issues in his life’’.
Dalziel, now perhaps headed for her political swansong after representing her home city for three decades as a Labour MP and leader of its council, has certainly had many detractors.
Tried and tested she may be, but many see her also as tired – a face of the old politics of Christchurch that they feel is ripe for a revamp. But in this tilt for the mayoralty she saw off 12 men, some of them very angry indeed, by dismantling their proposed policies and revealing them to be little more than outlandish claims.