David Clendon

Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, September 25th, 2009 - 14 comments
Categories: greens - Tags:

Following Sue Bradford’s resignation, next into Parliament on the Greens’ list is David Clendon, an Auckland business advisor and lecturer in resource management of Pakeha and Ngapuhi me Te Roroa descent.

As the Greens’ candidate in Helensville last year, Clendon won more candidate votes (6%) than the Greens won party votes (4.9%) . Not a bad achievement, especially considering Helensville is John Key’s seat and he hoovered up 73% of the candidate votes. Here is Clendon talking about why he’s in the Greens:

Although it’s sad to see Bradford go, it is good that we’re seeing more new faces in the Greens. Small parties tend to find rejuvenation a problem.

I’m sure David will be an asset, but he has big shoes to fill and will have many questioning whether his replacing Bradford signals a new direction for the party.

14 comments on “David Clendon ”

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  1. gingercrush 1
    25 September 2009 at 3:09 pm

    I’m not really surprised he got more candidate votes than the party vote. When the alternative is Darien Fenton what do you expect.

    Also why the Greens put their top people on lists into electorates like Helensville is beyond me. All their top candidates should be in inner-city electorates where the votes are huge for Greens or provincial electorates which give sizable votes.

    • Bright Red 1.1
      25 September 2009 at 3:31 pm

      Darien’s a bloody awesome MP, her redundancy protection bill carries on in bradford’s legacy.

      I guess Clendon lives in Helensville so he ran there.

      the list order is decided by the membership nationally and the local candidate by the local membership, so pretty tricky to set it up like you suggest.

  2. frog 2
    25 September 2009 at 3:20 pm

    If all you’re after is the party vote, ginger, what difference does it make which electorate you stand in? Besides, many kiwis would consider Helensville a ‘city’ electorate. 😉

    Thanks for the great post Eddie!

    • felix 2.1
      25 September 2009 at 3:53 pm

      Must be a city electorate if it includes Parnell.

    • Idiot/Savant 2.2
      25 September 2009 at 4:33 pm

      If all you’re after is the party vote, ginger, what difference does it make which electorate you stand in?

      To maximise that vote?

      The payoff for a strong candidate may be higher in a green-sympathetic inner-city electorate than a rural one.

      Besides, many kiwis would consider Helensville a ‘city’ electorate.

      Which tells us that those kiwis have no idea how most of us live.

  3. outofbed 3
    25 September 2009 at 3:23 pm

    I don’t think the Greens should have any electorate candidates
    Just campaign for the PARTY VOTE only. I am sure this would result in a larger %
    and would not split the left in places like Akld Central for no benefit for anyone but National

  4. George D 4
    25 September 2009 at 3:23 pm

    frog, I’ve argued many times that a Party Vote Only strategy, in every electorate, is a bad one. For a number of reasons.

  5. the sprout 5
    25 September 2009 at 10:46 pm

    Clendon is a good guy and will be an asset to Parliament and the Greens.

    But Bradford is a really sad loss. I’m not at all surprised she didn’t get over the leadership contest. Stabbed in the back by Norman, and taken for granted by a party that’s been tragically sucked in by the more packaging less substance mantra. I hope she goes on to do something she enjoys and where her efforts are properly appreciated.

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