Verrall looks set for list seat in Parliament
Well-known infectious diseases specialist Ayesha Verrall looks set for Parliament after she secured a very high ranking on Labour’s party list, which was released today.
Verrall became one of the faces of the Covid-19 response after she completed a rapid report of New Zealand’s contact tracing system and recommended changes. She’s ranked 18, just one spot behind recently demoted health minister David Clark.
Other candidates set for Parliament after the election include Vanushi Walters, Camilla Belich and Ibrahim Omer getting winnable spots.
Under MMP, the party list is the main determinant of who gets a seat in Parliament, especially for Labour, as it tends to win far fewer electorate seats than National.
The two most recent public polls show nearly the entire Labour list making it into Parliament. Newshub’s Reid Research poll had Labour winning 72 seats, while TVNZ’s Colmar Brunton Poll had Labour on 79 seats.
That polling would bring a suite of new MPs to Parliament.
There are also some big winners from Labour’s current caucus. Phil Twyford, who has spent much of this Parliamentary term under fire, moves up to fourth place on the list, taking over from Andrew Little, who has been demoted to seventh place from third back in 2017. Grant Robertson, who was ranked fourth place last election, moves up to third place.
These list rankings are based on the MPs’ current Cabinet rankings, decided by the leader of the parliamentary party, Jacinda Ardern, which the party then accepts.
Speaker Trevor Mallard makes a surprising move up the list, jumping up to 11th place from 33.
Ohariu candidate Greg O’Connor has dropped off the list, opting to run as an electorateonly MP, meaning he’ll be out of Parliament if he loses the seat.
Labour currently has 17 list MPs from a caucus of 46 MPs. Most commentators expect that margin to close ahead of the election.
Since 2013, the party has had a policy of targeting a gender balanced caucus. It does this by ensuring men and women are balanced at winnable positions on the party list or in safe electorates, based on current polling.