Whatever happens, the seat will be won by a new face, after Labour MP Stuart Nash announced earlier this year he will not contest the seat in the wake of a scandal coming to light around his leaking confidential Cabinet information.
The seat has been held by only Labour or National MPs since World War II.
Langford owns and works as a dental surgeon at Pearl of Ahuriri dentistry, and has lived in Napier for the past 27 years after growing up in the UK.
He has never run for local or central Government roles before but believed this was the time to do so, due largely to concerns he has with the Government and Opposition.
Martin Langford wants to address housing, crime and health. Photo / Warren Buckland
The Greenmeadows resident and father of two said addressing the housing shortage was among his top priorities if elected.
“There are many pressing issues but the loss of so many homes after Cyclone Gabrielle, on top of the social housing effects on our motels, is a disaster for our tourism industry.
“A reasoned, respectful and effective housing policy needs to be implemented in quick time to solve the housing shortage.”
Democracy NZ is led by former National MP Matt King and has 13 candidates dotted around the country, with Langford number four on its list.
Langford briefly attended the Covid anti-mandate protests outside Parliament in February 2022, which led to him becoming aware of King who spoke at the protest, according to the Democracy NZ website. King was trespassed from Parliament grounds for two years for attending.
Langford also wants to crack down further on crime and help improve Napier’s health care, including making it more resilient in a disaster.
Napier’s other candidates include Katie Nimon (National), Mark Hutchinson (Labour), Julienne Dickey (Green Party), Pawel Milewski (Act), Laurie Turnbull (NZ First), and John Clive Smith (independent).
