National Party seeks nominations for NP
The National Party is on the hunt to find a candidate who will compete for the New Plymouth electorate at next year’s general election.
Nominations opened last week for people interested in being considered for selection.
The cut-off date for political hopefuls is midday today.
A National Party spokesperson said while no details of nominations could be confirmed at this stage, including how many had been received to date, a candidate would be selected by October 31.
Candidate selection by the National Party has been under intense scrutiny of late, most recently regarding Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell, who was stood down from his role, pending an investigation into his past conduct. Last month, Stuff revealed how Uffindell was asked to leave the exclusive Auckland King’s College when he was 16, after he violently assaulted a younger student.
New Plymouth’s electoral fortunes have been shared between National and Labour in recent decades.
Before National’s Jonathan Young won the seat in 2008, which he kept for the following 12 years, then-Labour MP and current New Plymouth councillor Harry Duynhoven held the seat for five terms in a row beforehand. In 2020, Young was beaten by Labour’s Glen Bennett by 2555 votes.
The National Party itself also lost vast voter support in the electorate.
In 2020, the party won 13,336 votes in New Plymouth, or 30.2%, compared to Labour’s 21,394 votes, which was 48.5% of the final tally. It was a complete reversal from 2017, when National won 48.8% of the party vote, and Labour 34.1%.
Meanwhile, Bennett has confirmed his intention to stand for re-election next year. He had heard a few names bandied about in terms of people potentially stepping forward to contest the New Plymouth seat for National.
‘‘It reminds you this is a race, and a competition,’’ Bennett said.
While he did not feel he had been advantaged by the fact noone had been chosen to represent National in New Plymouth to date, ‘‘the reality is that I’m not being criticised so much politically’’.
However, he expected once the National Party formally announced the New Plymouth candidate, the contest of ideas would kick in again.
Meanwhile, National leaders and MPs have been a regular sight in New Plymouth this year.
During a two-day visit to the city in February, National leader Christopher Luxon said rebuilding support for the party in the region was a focus.
National deputy leader Nicola Willis also visited New Plymouth recently, along with separate visits from other colleagues, including Mark Mitchell and Chris Bishop.