List ranking pleases Mitchell

Clayton Mitchell says his party's endorsement shows the importance of Tauranga to NZ First. Photo / Andrew Warner

New Zealand First candidate Clayton Mitchell is confident heading into the September election after being placed number six on the official party list.

The Tauranga City Councillor's ranking was revealed yesterday when the list of top 25 NZ First candidates was announced.

Mr Mitchell said he was pleased with the outcome but not surprised by his placing as the Tauranga candidate.

"I think it shows how important Tauranga is as a seat."

Holding 4.3 per cent of the party vote in last week's New Zealand Herald digipoll, Mr Mitchell was feeling confident in the party's ability to overcome the 5 per cent threshold in September. "I am predicting we will get into double figures," he said. If NZ First reached the 5 per cent threshold they would get six seats in Parliament, just enough for Mr Mitchell to claim a seat, according to the MMP Seat Allocation Calculator.

"It's good for Tauranga, it's good for me and it's good for New Zealand First," he said.

"The top 10 is certainly a very strong team and I look forward to working alongside them."

NZ First leader Rt Hon Winston Peters said Mr Mitchell was a talented candidate who had already demonstrated serious commitment to Tauranga.

"Tauranga, and the Bay of Plenty, is very important to New Zealand First because we started there 21 years ago."

NZ First's deputy leader Tracey Martin was ranked in second place after Mr Peters, followed by list MP Richard Prosser third, Rotorua candidate Fletcher Tabuteau in fourth and list MP Barbara Stewart in fifth, before Mr Mitchell.

NZ First won a 6.59 per cent final share of the party vote in the 2011 General Election, good enough to claim eight list MP seats in Parliament.

The 25 on this list are from a total of 31:

1 Rt Hon Winston Peters
2 Tracey Martin
3 Richard Prosser
4 Fletcher Tabuteau
5 Barbara Stewart
6 Clayton Mitchell
7 Denis O'Rourke
8 Pita Paraone
9 Ron Mark
10 Darroch Ball
11 Mahesh Bindra
12 Ria Bond
13 Mataroa Paroro
14 Romuald Rudzki
15 Jon Reeves
16 Asenati Lole- Taylor
17 Brent Catchpole
18 George Abraham
19 Ray Dolman
20 Hugh Barr
21 Anne Degia Pala
22 Steve Campbell
23 Edwin Perry
24 Bill Gudgeon
25 Brent Pierson