Labour Selections

Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, December 12th, 2010 - 19 comments
Categories: labour - Tags: , , , , ,

Today Labour choose their candidate for Manurewa to replace George Hawkins.  It’ll be a show of the party in good health, with 500 expected to turn up and vote on 7 candidates:  Jerome Mika, Louisa Wall, Ashraf Choudhary MP, Ian Dunwoodie, Amelia Schaaf, Shane Te Pou and Raj Thandi.

They’ll be pleased to be rid of George, who certainly wasn’t the most left-wing member of the party, and has caused more trouble than most over the years.  At the last boundary re-drawing he put in his own submission that ensured his own incredibly safe seat was made safer to improve his ego – but resulting in Mangakiekie becoming a marginal National seat even before the 2008 election, and Auckland Central in turn losing a Labour area as well, making it easier for Nikki Kaye to win.  At the recent SuperCity elections he formed a group with a bunch of right-wingers, splitting the Manurewa vote.

And now he’s threatening to resign if he doesn’t get his preferred candidate to replace him – as though Manurewa was his own hereditary fiefdom.

He wants Ian Dunwoodie, or possibly Shane Te Pou, neither of whom would be popular with the wider party.  At a squeeze he’s apparently willing to go with Louisa Wall, who’s a more likely option.  I have no problem with Louisa being the candidate, she seemed great (and not deserving of the right-wing’s ire & prejudice) when I met her briefly; I do have a problem with George causing a hugely expensive and pointless by-election if the other front-runner, Jerome Mika, gets in.  I’ve met Jerome, who’s hugely capable and devoted to helping out working people in his job with the EPMU – he’d be a great MP.  And in Manurewa a by-election in election year would be about as useful as Turia’s in 2004.

At any rate, if either of the 2 front-runners gets in Labour will have done well, and have exciting new (or new-ish in Louisa’s case) blood to add to their team next year.

And it’s Louisa Wall – Congratulations Louisa.

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Next Saturday is the Te Atatu selection, where Chris Carter hasn’t made any such blatant threats, even if he has been seen talking to George Hawkins…

He likewise has a favourite for his fiefdom, but a favourite who’s also the front-runner amongst another impressive field for Labour.  8 compete there, with Phil Twyford looking the likely winner – although he has no cake-walk.  There’s a strong field, with Kate Sutton, Labour vice-president, a strong contender (particularly with Labour wanting to replace some of the women lost in 2008), and Rajen Prasad another MP competing.  Nick Bakulich, Jim Bradshaw, Michael Kidd, Ann Pala, and many-time candidate Hamish McCracken make up a high quality list.

Twyford would be a great MP for Te Atatu, although I personally think he could have a more useful role for Labour on the list as a “candidate for Greater Auckland”.  He could do some real damage at election time against National and Act on Auckland issues, which should still be a big topic – even though it is now “Brown Town”.  National will no doubt continue to hold back the cash for the public transport Auckland have voted for so there will be mileage to be made.  The worry is that Te Atatu is no longer a safe seat (party vote was almost a dead heat in 2008), so Phil may be too tied up campaigning locally – one of the great strengths of MMP can be the ability to keep your big-hitters focussed on the nationwide campaign.

Overall: Labour stand to have 2 great candidates replacing 2 overrated egos – so all good for the future of the left.

19 comments on “Labour Selections ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. millsy 1
    12 December 2010 at 10:30 am

    If Hawkins has a problem with unions, then he needs to reconsider his future as a member of the Labour party.

  2. The Voice of Reason 2
    12 December 2010 at 11:00 am

    Hawkins’ hatred of organised workers goes back to his initial selection, where he failed to get any union support and continues through every election since where he has been renominated in a lukewarm way, just because he was the sitting MP.

    It’s Jerome Mika for mine. A fantastic guy. Hardworking, articulate and a team player. His selection would be a positive change for the electorate and a boost for the party.

  3. Anthony C 3
    12 December 2010 at 11:34 am

    It’s your right to slag George off but he is/was and incredibly good electorate MP for the people of Manurewa.

  4. Ata chatter 4
    12 December 2010 at 12:46 pm

    Is Chris Carter’s endorsement of Twyford a clever trick so that when Twyford is selected, Carter then resigns and forces a by-election where Tizard would come back in and cause Goff embarrassment?

  5. Jim Nald 5
    12 December 2010 at 12:53 pm

    Please give us a heads up on the outcome of the votes when someone here knows.
    Cheers.

    • Bunji 5.1
      12 December 2010 at 8:40 pm

      The floor votes been done and the panel retired to consider their votes about an hour ago… but the process can take hours.

      • Jim Nald 5.1.1
        12 December 2010 at 8:51 pm

        Cheers. I’ve looked up news online and stuff.co.nz and RNZ seem to be the two that are most up-to-date this afternoon/evening.

        Would it be just a counting exercise except if the votes are close, in which case the panel plays a greater role?

  6. Logie97 6
    12 December 2010 at 1:32 pm

    nothing to add. simply couldn’t resist sharing the Captcha
    “replaced”

    I’m beginning to think these anti-spam words are no longer random and pure coincidence. I think they come from a predetermined database that is linked to a topic or thread…

  7. Francisco Hernandez 7
    12 December 2010 at 2:04 pm

    Ehm

    Michael Kidd, ex Destiny Party candidate would *NOT* be a good replacement for Chris Carter.

    personally I quite like either Ann Pala or Kate Sutton for Te Atatu and will be giving preferencing them the highest.

    • m kidd 7.1
      13 December 2010 at 6:56 pm

      family party supported by over twenty churches in nz defintely not destiny party which was disbanded in 2006
      likewise family party disbanded early 2010
      i am conerned that someone like phil is being parachuted in by unions – the wider community is watching
      labour could get creamed at next election if it does not renew itself rather recycling its list MPs into “secure” sinecures

  8. the sprout 8
    12 December 2010 at 3:26 pm

    Labour stand to have 2 great candidates

    this would seem to imply the selection process is meritocratic 😆

  9. Swampy 9
    12 December 2010 at 7:57 pm

    Candidates should be selected on the grounds of merit not because of how many supporters they can round up on the day. Being a good organiser in a union is not a reliable prediction they will make a good MP. What percentage of union organisers make it into Cabinet.

    • Lindsey 9.1
      12 December 2010 at 8:07 pm

      Theoretically if a candidiate can organise a good turnout on the selection day, it is an indication of community support and hopefully an indication of their ability to have people working for them and for the party up to the election.
      Union organisers tend to be “get things done’ type of people, the word “organiser” is a bit of a clue!
      Also the public speaking, people mangement and “talk to anybody” skills you need for an organiser ‘s job is good training for an MP.

  10. Lindsey 10
    12 December 2010 at 10:26 pm

    Congratulations to Louisa Wall – Labour candidiate for Manurewa.

  11. Leon 11
    12 December 2010 at 11:48 pm

    Yes, isn’t great to have a Maori in a safe Labour seat. First time ever (outside of the no-longer safe Maori seats). And a women in the otherwise and forever male bastion of South Auckland. This is a history-making selection. Congratulations Louisa Wall.
    Louisa will carry on with the great work she did in the Manurewa markets last election, except now it will be on an electorate-wide scale. This, and the other South Auckland seats are Labour heartland. With quality candidates like William Sio and Louisa Wall the future is bright for Labour and its working class voters.
    Similarly in West Auckland with the organising ability of Phil Twyford, the energy of Carmel Sepuloni and the leadership of David Cuniliffe we can turn out the masses in that area as well.
    As we all know the party vote is the key and the places with the greatest concentration of potential Labour votes has to be the primary organising focus of the party.

  12. millsy 12
    13 December 2010 at 7:39 am

    Looks to me like a compromise candidate, but at least there wont be another by-election for Labour to get embarrassed over.

    Good luck Louisa. Youll need it. In bucketfuls.

    And can you guys please ban Swampy – he/she is getting on my nerves.

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