Candidate ‘too working-class’ for Marlborough
Former Labour candidate Janette Walker will not stand again, saying she was told the Kaiko¯ura electorate needs a ‘‘white, middleclass male’’.
Walker ran as Labour’s Kaiko¯ura candidate in the past two elections, losing twice to National’s Stuart Smith.
Walker said she was moving to Taupo¯ . ‘‘I won’t be putting myself up for selection here in Kaiko¯ ura.
‘‘A white middle-class male, I’ve been told, is what this electorate needs.’’ Walker said she was also told she was ‘‘too workingclass for Marlborough’’.
She wouldn’t say who said her gender was not suitable but said it came post election, ‘‘from people you would least expect’’.
Walker said the Labour Party encouraged her to move to Marlborough in 2014 ‘‘because they couldn’t get any local people interested’’. ‘‘I worked incredibly hard to get to know the electorate.
‘‘I’ve done a lot in making a difference to the community.’’
The Kaikoura electorate has been a National seat since 1996.
Walker’s time in Marlborough has been marred by controversies, including her contract being terminated at Blenheim charity Crossroads Trust.
She gatecrashed former prime minister Bill English’s coffee break on the campaign trail in 2017, suggesting National supporters were taking down her election hoardings. Three days later, police were called to a polling booth in Picton where voters claimed Walker was confronting them about who they had voted for. Walker said she was about 20 metres away and doing nothing wrong.
Smith said he would contest the seat again.
Dr Richard McCubbin who ran as Kaiko¯ura’s Green Party candidate in the 2017 election said he would ‘‘almost certainly’’ put himself forward as a candidate in 2020. NZ First Kaiko¯ ura branch chairman Jamie Arbuckle also said he would put his name forward as a candidate in 2020.