Carter considering list only

The NZ Herald reports that David Carter may not stand for the new Selwyn seat as he wants a candidate who can unite the electorate.  Carter had been selected as the candidate, but in an unusual move nominations were re-opened after complaints about the selection process.

Selwyn is a very safe seat for National, so whoever gains the nomination will almost certainly become an MP. David Carter is pretty much guaranteed a high winnable list spot also.

According to the article, there are 12 candidates likely to seek the nomination.  If that is the case a pre-selection committee will reduce that number to five (at which time the names can be made public) and then a full selection meeting of local delegates.

This isn’t a comment on Selwyn specifically, but I always regard it as a healthy thing when a National held seat with no incumbent re-standing has a vigorous selection contest with at least five candidates. And from what I can tell, even the safe Labour seats are attracting enough interest to have selection contests – again a healthy sign.

All but a handful of National’s electorate candidates would become MPs on current public polls (as National rules allow only five list only candidates), so it is important that National has quality candidates in even the strongest Labour seats.