What the politicians think: Jim Anderton

Jim Anderton

This election has brought out the "dark side" of New Zealanders, says veteran campaigner Jim Anderton.

The leader of Jim Anderton's Progressive Party says people seem to have forgotten how much we depend on each other.

"The reason for that is there is a bidding war going on for the greediest of our instincts. There is more of that in this election than any recent election I can remember. I think it's the dark side of New Zealand's character."

His favourite campaign memory is of a street meeting in his electorate on Tuesday when a young woman approached him and asked what he would do for her and her partner.

Having tried his best to convince her of what she should be doing for her country, Mr Anderton was on the verge of giving up when she said: "I have to vote for you anyway. My partner will leave me if I don't."

Mr Anderton's party is well below the 5 per cent threshold, but he looks certain to retain Wigram and return to Parliament as a potential coalition partner for Labour.

His one last message to voters is: "If it's not broken, why fix it?"