An office battle for Mana?

The Herald reports:

Former television political reporter Kris Faafoi is among the potential Labour candidates for the byelection in the seat of Mana in the Porirua area.

Yesterday, Mr Faafoi, who recently became chief press secretary to Labour Party leader Phil Goff, said he was not ruling out an attempt to move into Parliament.

“People have spoken to me [about standing in Mana], but I haven’t given it a lot of serious consideration.”

I’m a bit surprised – purely because I didn’t know Kris was politically ambitious. If he did stand, and win, he would be a rarity – a former press gallery member, who became an MP.

As I mentioned yesterday, Josie Pagani may stand also. By coincidence her husband is Phil Goff’s strategist – so there may be split loyalties in the office.

However Josie may fall victim to identity politics, as reported by Stuff:

Labour president Andrew Little has ruled himself out of the race, and has indicated the party may look for a Pacific Island or Maori candidate to contest the seat.

Or they could look for the best person for the job.