Labour Candidate selections

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 pm, April 29th, 2014 - 15 comments
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The Labour Party is busily selecting candidates for electorates throughout the country.  The interest is intense.  Seats where normally candidates have to be persuaded to stand are having quite intense selection contests.  For instance last night Labour selected its candidate for the newly created Upper Harbour seat. The successful candidate is lawyer Hermann Retzlaff who showed commendable organisational ability and skill in his campaign.  The seat ought to be a safe National seat but the response of the locals to previously proud to be a westie Paula Bennett is unknown. To cap things off it is likely that Christine Rankin will the Conservative Party candidate.  Although the seat should be a safe seat given a likely high intensity Conservative campaign and a well organised Labour campaign nothing should be discounted.

Hermann managed to edge out Claire Szabo in the contest for the candidacy.  She is the chief executive of Habitat for Humanity. She is an impressive woman with considerable skills and I am sure she has a bright future in the party.

And tonight is the Kelston selection.  The candidates are former MP Carmel Sepuloni and current Whau Local Board member Ruby Manukia-Schaumkell.  Carmel almost performed a miracle last election and just about toppled Paula Bennett from the Waitakere seat.  Ruby was one of the successful candidates who were swept into office on a progressive tide out west at the last local body elections.  They are both very capable candidates.   The winner will almost inevitably be the next MP for Kelston.

Currently they are giving speeches in front of a packed hall with 200 members.

I will update this post with the result.

Update: and the winner is …

Carmel Sepuloni

15 comments on “Labour Candidate selections ”

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  1. karol 1
    29 April 2014 at 9:36 pm

    Congratulations, Carmel!! On the way to being my next electorate MP?

    • mickysavage 1.1
      29 April 2014 at 9:39 pm

      She should be. And if you want an MP that really can relate to ordinary people and represent their interests effectively it is Carmel.

  2. Aspasia 2
    29 April 2014 at 9:39 pm

    Well done Carmel!!

  3. Ant 3
    29 April 2014 at 9:51 pm

    Always liked what Carmel had to say, look forward to seeing her in parliament.

  4. Olwyn 4
    29 April 2014 at 10:04 pm

    Brilliant! I am so glad Carmel is back, and I am confident she will win that seat.

  5. The Real Matthew 5
    30 April 2014 at 9:44 am

    “Carmel almost performed a miracle last election and just about toppled Paula Bennett from the Waitakere seat.”

    Like Karol I’m in the old Waitakere/new Kelston electorate. The above statement is greatly misleading. The area has been a Labour area since Noah was building the ark. The fact that Paula was not only able to win the seat but defend was a massive achievement on her behalf.

    It also showed that despite her best efforts Carmel doesn’t have what it takes and I’m disappointed she has won the Labour Party nomination. Kelston is a safe Labour seat and she will be a member of parliament so lets hope Carmel can up her game to the next level and provide effective representation.

    • Stephen 5.1
      30 April 2014 at 9:52 am

      Erm, judging by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitakere_%28New_Zealand_electorate%29#Election_results it was lost by Lynne Pillay and Carmel got 400 more votes than Lynne did in the last election. Considering what a terrible election for Labour that was nationally, I don’t think that’s too bad.

      • Colonial Viper 5.1.1
        30 April 2014 at 10:02 am

        Actually if you look at the breakdown of the numbers, Labour was punished hard in the party vote across the board, but the vote for Labour electorate candidates in general held up quite well.

      • The Real Matthew 5.1.2
        30 April 2014 at 3:36 pm

        You are always going to look good if the hapless Lynne Pillay is your benchmark!

    • Akldnut 5.2
      30 April 2014 at 11:13 am

      “The area has been a Labour area since Noah was building the ark. The fact that Paula was not only able to win the seat but defend was a massive achievement on her behalf.”

      Ambiquious much. The fact that National won it twice makes the first sentence moot.

      “It also showed that despite her best efforts Carmel doesn’t have what it takes.”
      Carmel had actually been pronounced winner until the recount – losing by 9 votes. We pegged the Leotarded One back to single digits. She was packing herself so much she opted for the safe seat of Upper Harbour rather than take Carmel on again. (The picture was on the wall)

      You aren’t putting your spin together very well, you need to lift your game.

      • Skinny 5.2.1
        30 April 2014 at 11:28 am

        I tend to agree, constructive criticism no offense. A picture tells a thousand words. Ya get to know the MP’s well enough through how well there social media messaging is, how many punters (F/B) like and comment. For Labour Adern has it right, way out in front, however others seem to think endless selfies is cool. It’s not, it tells a story of self interest, the retiring MP is a classic example.

    • mickysavage 5.3
      30 April 2014 at 2:33 pm

      You have to be joking Matthew. The seat contains the Waitakere Ranges and foothills and beaches and these are wealthy areas. It also includes Henderson Heights and Summerlands which is very middle class. In 2008 Paula Bennett won the seat by 600 votes. Despite a loss of 7% points in party votes Carmel almost won the seat.

      There is no need for Carmel to “up her game”. She is one of the most impressive future MPs we have.

      • The Real Matthew 5.3.1
        30 April 2014 at 6:08 pm

        Not joking at all @mickysavage

        It is true the old Waitakere electorate was quite broad in terms of the socio economic status of those who resided in the electorate. Whilst the areas you mention are above average in terms of wealth (though nothing like Epsom or Herne Bay) the population is sparse given the area.

        The core of the electorate was very much in working class areas where Labour should have held.

        Heck in the 2005 election Lynne Pillay won the seat over Paula Bennett with a 5,000 vote majority. That’s not a seat that Labour should be losing in 2008 and 2011.

  6. Skinny 6
    30 April 2014 at 10:47 am

    Congrats to Carmel hope she has a strong election campaign team around her, actually that goes to all Labour candidates.

    Strategic voting under MMP will play a strong part in getting some Labour MP’s across the line in a few electorates. McCarten will be worth his salt in this regard, trying to cobble some sort of deal with the Greens. Same applies to Mana in the Maori seats, inorder to clean out Flavell. Labour voters ‘must be’ given the message to vote for Sykes or it’s just vote splitting and he wins. If LP voters did, that maybe the Maori party wiped out of parliament altogether. The local Rotorua newspapers polling revealed she is neck and neck with Favell. I like Annette, she is very Labour friendly and promotes a lot of positives of Labour & the Greens on social media, F/B.

  7. captain hook 7
    30 April 2014 at 11:41 am

    It looks very much like Labour is assembling a team that will move the country forward in the most positive way since 2008.