All National candidates to be on list

In a break from tradition, all National candidates will stand on the party's list this election to underscore the directive that they must campaign for the party vote first.

The list ranking of National's candidates will be determined this weekend and announced on Sunday.

List rankings are a nail-biting process for political party candidates, as a high placing guarantees those in the large parties a parliamentary seat whether or not they win a constituency seat.

National MPs are sitting pretty, because the party has announced that the 25 MPs seeking re-election will be given top-30 slots.

At the last election, a number of sitting MPs were ranked on the list behind new candidates, which saw those MPs focus on fighting to retain their seats at the expense of campaigning for the crucial party vote.

Of the MPs now sitting, six stood for constituency seats only.

They included East Coast Bays MP Murray McCully, Tamaki MP Clem Simich and Pakuranga MP Maurice Williamson.

President Judy Kirk said yesterday that in previous elections, electorates such as East Coast Bays with a constituency-only MP had also nominated up to two list candidates.

"This time the constituent candidate is also the list nomination, which has tightened up the list and made the calibre so much stronger."

Only six of the 27 MPs in the party are women and there is only one MP who identifies as Maori, and one Asian MP.

Mrs Kirk said she believed National would have a more diverse team of MPs after the election.

"My thinking has always been that politics begins at the grassroots and you've got to have candidates that reflect the community. I think we've done a good job with that right throughout the country."

Former New Zealand World Trade Organisation ambassador Tim Groser is set for a high list placing.

The party set aside five list-only places, and leader Don Brash and the Maori MP, Georgina te Heuheu, will get two. The party is downplaying the likelihood of the other two spots already being filled.

Prominent QC Judith Ablett Kerr opted not to stand.

Auckland region candidates set to get high list placings include Allan Peachey, Tau Henare and Dr Jonathan Coleman. In the Wellington region former mayor Mark Blumsky is expected to do well.