Helen White wins Mount Albert selection

Written By: - Date published: 3:24 pm, March 11th, 2023 - 25 comments
Categories: election 2023, labour, political parties, uncategorized - Tags:

In breaking news Helen White has won the selection for the Mt Albert seat over Camilla Belich.  This is something of an upset as Belich was rumoured to have head office support.  The local LEC is well organised however and by the looks of it united behind White.

25 comments on “Helen White wins Mount Albert selection ”

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  1. Anne 1
    11 March 2023 at 4:42 pm

    Interesting outcome.

    As someone who was an integral part of the selection process of the other Helen it looks like things might have come full circle.

    In 1980, there were also two frontrunners – the former Mt. Albert LEC chairman, Keith Elliot and Helen Clark. It was anybody's guess who was going to win. Those were the days when multiple candidates would put their names forward which made the process tense and drawn out. Helen Clark fronted up with by far the best speech and won the contest hands down.

    It will be interesting to see how far Helen White is able to fly.

  2. Mac1 2
    11 March 2023 at 4:43 pm

    This is (underlined) possibly something of an upset as Belich was rumoured to have head office support.

    Who feels there has been an upset or unpredicted outcome, when it depends on a rumour?

    That sounds like a rumour in itself- there is a rumour that there was a rumour ………… conflicts and rumours of conflicts. Who cares? Who benefits? At the end, Belich won. All else is hearsay.

    • Anne 2.1
      11 March 2023 at 4:56 pm

      Anything Mac1 to make it appear there is infighting in the ranks of Labour. In this case, a supposed battle royal between the hierarchy and the local members. Something similar was also tried on during the Helen Clark selection.

    • Mac1 2.2
      11 March 2023 at 5:56 pm

      Oops! Started a new rumour. Of course, Helen White won. And best of luck to her from someone in provincial, southern Labour…….

    • Clive Macann 2.3
      12 March 2023 at 10:16 am

      Quote: At the end, Belich won.

      Hmmm.

      • Mac1 2.3.1
        12 March 2023 at 10:27 am

        Nothing more to be seen here than my simple error- aka 'oopsay'. Anything else is hearsay, seesay or I didn't say.

  3. Patricia Bremner 3
    11 March 2023 at 4:47 pm

    It is great to have two strong candidates putting their names forward. I agree Mac1, rumour bloomer suits the Gnats and pals. All the best Helen.

  4. Ad 4
    11 March 2023 at 4:50 pm

    So who takes on Swarbrick then?

    • lprent 4.1
      11 March 2023 at 5:43 pm

      I'd recommend Camilla Belich. I hadn't run across her before (too much code work and too little time for politics). She will make a hell of a candidate.

      It was a good campaign in Epsom last election. It’d probably be pain for the Epsom campaign. But the longer-term three-way in Epsom and the outright gifting of the seat to a Act candidate by National means that it will probably remain a party-vote campaign.

      The Auckland Central campaign was good as well, so the campaign team has been getting better.

      But Helen White has been involved with campaigns in Mt Albert since I moved back to Auckland in 1989 and has lived there longer than I have (damn electorate boundaries). She knows the place and how it works.

    • Corey 4.2
      12 March 2023 at 12:45 pm

      Considering how many people in Labour including myself were furious at Chloe in 2020 for risking splitting the votes and electing a Tory….

      It'd be utterly hypocritical of those of us who were furious at Chloe to not be furious at Labour for running a candidate in Auckland central and risk splitting the vote.

      Labour shouldn't run any candidates in Auckland central, the incumbent is an ally and we should root for her reelection.

      National/act have an insanely large campaign war chest compared to the lefts and our resources would be better spent elsewhere not on a seat an ally holds.

      Also The Greens may genuinely need an electorate seat to get into parliament, it would be horrible if labour won that seat but the Greens got 4.9% and we're left without a future coalition partner.

      The lefts refusal to embrace electorate deals is stupid and counter productive

      • Tiger Mountain 4.2.1
        12 March 2023 at 2:00 pm

        Agree about Auck Central, though Chlöe Swarbrick may well win on her own merits anyway.

        One quality NZ Labour National Office has had in abundance while I have followed parliamentary politics is arrogance, and electorate deals are hardly likely even at this juncture, many years after Natzo/ACT’s cozy wozy in Epsom.

        During the Clark & Alliance years some senior figures still obviously resented the MMP system and seemed to hope it would go away.

        • Anne 4.2.1.1
          12 March 2023 at 4:45 pm

          Yes. Arrogance was the order of the day in the 80s. To be fair it existed on both sides of the equation – right and left. Many of us slipped quietly away from the Labour Party during those years.

          Have just re-read David Lange’s book “Nuclear Free” published in 1990 he had this to say in his final chapter:

          People sometimes ask me if the CIA had anything to do with my resignation from office in 1989. The fact is that it didn’t. Or if it did, its finesse was such that nobody has ever heard of it, or suspected it. The only dirty tricks that were ever played on me were by the right-wing members of the Labour Party. Neither the CIA nor any force on earth could tear us apart the way the Labour Government tore itself apart.

          There is nothing like reading about the past in order to understand the present.

          • Tiger Mountain 4.2.1.1.1
            12 March 2023 at 5:20 pm

            Absolutely.

            The tricky part is conveying to people that in the wider scenario NZ Labour still enacts many useful incremental reforms and some major ones like the COVID response, and is definitely the lesser evil at election time compared to National/ACT/NZ First.

      • weka 4.2.2
        12 March 2023 at 2:36 pm

        Also The Greens may genuinely need an electorate seat to get into parliament, it would be horrible if labour won that seat but the Greens got 4.9% and we're left without a future coalition partner.

        astounding that this is still even an issue.

        The Greens quietly didn't stand in some of the Māori electorates in the past, not need for deals or a big hooha.

      • observer 4.2.3
        12 March 2023 at 3:10 pm

        I disagree. The Greens being a real independent party is one of their great strengths. They are not the left's equivalent of ACT, never have been, never should be.

        It is very hard to gauge hypothetical gains and losses, but I would guess (absent any solid data) that both Labour and the Greens benefit by not being joined at the hip. Voters – and just as important, potential voters – are willing to consider a vote for "Labour" or "Greens" more readily than for a Lab-Green monolith.

        It's not just the parties being stubborn or narrow, they keep a distance for sound strategic reasons.

  5. lprent 5
    11 March 2023 at 5:36 pm

    Just as a note for the rumour mill, I didn't write this post.

    That was because I was at selection meeting (unlike the author of the post or the reported) and got quite clear instructions not to talk about it. It was internal Labour. That is also a policy that I agree with.

    The Labour selections are done with a balance between local members, local LEC, unions, and the political/head office. As a technique it seems to work most of the time. It certainly doesn't leave that much room for the kinds of shenanigans taht seem to accompany National party selections when their profit hungry candidate 'consultants' get involved.

    There was a very large attendance at Western Springs, far more than there was at the last selection meeting for Mt Albert in 2009, and a lot fewer candidates. Having just two really good candidates left very little room for any manoeuvring. But I'm sure that selection committee took all viewpoints and preferences into consideration.

    BTW: there was only one candidate in 2015 – so no selection meeting.

    • Visubversa 5.1
      11 March 2023 at 5:51 pm

      I was there as well. I was interested to see that a lot of the attendees were long time Labour activists, supporters and workers. It was very much "Labour Loyalists", people with the longer view and demonstrated loyalty to the Party.

      I had a pretty good indication what the final result would be when the result was announced of the "floor vote" for the last member of the Selection Panel. This showed that the support was there from the local electorate.

  6. Shanreagh 6
    11 March 2023 at 10:04 pm

    Lprent and Visubversa, did you each wear a red carnation or carry a copy of The Herald rag to identify each other?

    I wouldn't know who anyone was on here except Robert G & Lprent, only because they have identified themselves. Just felt a little bit excited then at the thought that I might be mixing in real life with those whose posts and views I so much enjoy in TS anonymity-land.

    Silly eh?

  7. Darien Fenton 7
    12 March 2023 at 3:58 am

    It is good to see local members are still influential in these selections. After all, it is their local MP. I agree about Camilla for Auckland Central. She would be a great candidate, is already a sitting MP (which is an advantage Helen White didn't have) and is making an impact. The thing to remember of course is the party vote is the one that brings home the bacon, so to speak, so good candidates in all seats are vital. Christchurch East selection today.

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