In introducing a Silver Symposium and election candidate forum held in Waipawa yesterday, CHB mayor Alex Walker put candidates on notice that with the current electorate boundaries, Central Hawke's Bay was not getting the representation it deserved.
In 2007 the Wairarapa electorate boundary was extended north to include the towns of Waipawa and Waipukurau, splitting the CHB district between the Wairarapa and Tukituki electorates.
"You would think that this would mean twice the representation," Ms Walker told the assembled National, Labour, Ikaroa-Rawhiti and Green Party candidates.
"But we do not think we are getting that at the moment - we may be the bottom third of the Tukituki electorate or the top part of Wairarapa but we have our own identity and issues and we need support from all of you who represent this area in Wellington."
Her comments struck a chord with Wairarapa Labour candidate Kieran McAnulty who revived his call from his 2014 election campaign for the electorate to be renamed to include CHB.