Written By: - Date published: 2:16 pm, October 29th, 2008 - 40 comments
Categories: election 2008, vote smart -
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In Wellington Central and Ohariu-Belmont, left-wing voters have the opportunity to use their candidate votes wisely to help good left-wing candidates to victory, and keep out two conservative dinosaurs.
Wellington Central is a two-horse race between Labour’s Grant Robertson and National’s homophobic former ACT MP Stephen Franks. Wellington Central was a firmly Labour seat last election but the incumbent, Marian Hobbs, is retiring, and Robertson has a name recognition handicap compared to Franks. It could be a tight race. However, last election 3,700 voters gave their candidate vote to the Greens’ Sue Kedgley and another thousand went to micro Left parties’ candidates. If those voters keep their party vote Green but give their candidate vote to Robertson, as I will be doing, we’ll get a well-qualified Left MP and keep that bigot Franks out.
Ohariu-Belmont has been Peter Dunne’s fiefdom but Labour’s Charles Chauvel cut his lead from 12,000 to 8,000 last election. With greater name recognition this time, and National’s Katrina Shanks also taking votes from Dunne, the electorate is now potentially in play for Charles. If the 2,000 voters who gave their candidate vote to the Green candidate last election were to back Chauvel, we could get United Future out of Parliament altogether.
None of this is any criticism of the Green candidates but only the Labour candidates have a chance of winning. The choice is between Robertson and Chauvel or Franks and Dunne. Left-wing voters should back the left-wing candidates who have a chance of winning.
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Scoopit!
So some of you people in Ohariu are going to vote for a guy who comes out with lines like these?
“A Vote for Peter D is a vote for John Key”, says Charles Chauvel.
“Peter Dunne doesn’t care who’s PM, as long as he still gets to ride in a Ministerial BM”, Chauvel said.
WOW!!
It’s quite unlikely. We’re a bit of a National/UF stronghold here, sadly.
And Scribe- yes, I’d vote for practically anyone but Act or Winston to get rid of Peter Dunne
I voted Green/Chauvel last time and I intend to do so again.
“A Vote for Peter D is a vote for John Key’, says Charles Chauvel.
“Peter Dunne doesn’t care who’s PM, as long as he still gets to ride in a Ministerial BM’, Chauvel said.
True and True… whats the problem, Scribe?
Go Chauvel! What troubles me is there must be a decent cohort of Labour party votes in Ohariu ticking Dunne as MP.
Ohariu-Belmont 2005: 14,720 Labour Party votes
9,142 Charles Chauvel votes (!) Whats going on people!
Dunnes majority is 7000 odd. take the 5000 labour voters add some of the 2000 green candidate voters. you got a close race.
Im from Ohariu but cos I’m studying in Dunedin I’m listed in Dunedin North which is pete hodgsons guaranteed seat. Wish I had enrolled back to Ohariu to get in on the fun.
Ari,
I dont think we qualify as a national/uf ‘Stronghold’
2005 party votes Ohariu-Belmont:
Labour: 14,720
National: 16,042
However with the boundaries Belmont is now gone and I’m gonna assume their pretty Labour up there. But haven’t they added some parts in Tawa? That tends to be pretty Labour.
Chauvel has worked hard – has run a good campaign so far and has ccertainly been putting the work in. I went to one of the public meetings last week – in Ngaio at the Town Hall – it was packed and he performed well with a good pitch to an economically pretty well-off but socially liberall audience of undecided voters – judging by the comments of those around me. He was easily the most impressive of the candidates. SHanks is unimpressive but the Nats always do well up here anyway. The comments about teh Ministerial BM and the vote for Dunne being one for Key are actually spot on and a lot of us feel that way – if people vote strategically this time there could be a surprise result…