The contest for the Auckland Central electorate has been thrown wide open by the resignation of popular incumbent and National MP Nikki Kaye. Photo / Getty Images
The contest for the Auckland Central electorate has been thrown wide open by the resignation of popular incumbent and National MP Nikki Kaye. Photo / Getty Images
As the election campaign revs up, the Herald examines key seats around the country. Today Isaac Davison looks at some of the most interesting Auckland contests*.
Auckland Central
Auckland Central was already one of closest races in the country before the departure of popular National Party incumbent Nikki Kaye. Shehas been replaced by a relative unknown, bank PR manager Emma Mellow, following a
which has given National a stumbling start in the contest.
With Kaye gone, and Labour riding high on Jacinda Ardern's popularity, its candidate Helen White could make a claim to being the frontrunner. She has name recognition from running in 2017, when she won 40 per cent of the candidate votes - more than the Labour vote of 38 per cent.
National candidate in Auckland Central Emma Mellow was chosen after a messy selection process. But she could benefit from the presence of two strong left-wing candidates in the race. Photo / Supplied
Labour's Auckland Central candidate Helen White (left), pictured at an election debate with National MP Erica Stanford and TOP candidate Tuariki Dalamere. Photo / Dean Purcell
White's bid is complicated by the Green candidate and high-profile sitting MP, Chloe Swarbrick, who is running a "two-ticks" campaign. With Greens hovering around the crucial 5 per cent threshold in public polling, an electorate win would be a lifeline for the Greens to stay in Parliament.
Swarbrick has a strong track record as a campaigner. She came from nowhere to place third in the Auckland mayoralty race in 2016, and won 12 per cent of the candidate vote in Maungakiekie in 2017 despite not focusing on the candidate vote. She will need to grow the candidate vote to at least 30 per cent in Auckland Central - around 10,000 votes - to have a chance of a huge upset.
If Swarbrick gets some momentum, she could also split the left-wing vote, making it easier for Mellow to win.
Green MP and Auckland Central candidate Chloe Swarbrick is going all-out to win the seat, which could split the left-wing vote. Photo / Dean Purcell
Botany
The contest for Botany will be the first political test for former Air NZ CEO Christopher Luxon, who is tipped by some to be a future National Party leader.
While it is considered a safe seat for National, his path to victory is made slightly more difficult by former National MP Jami-Lee Ross, now running under a breakaway party Advance NZ. Since resigning from National in 2018, the rogue MP has been dishing the dirt on his former party, in particular its electoral donations.
