Labour questions voters on celebrity candidates

Judith Tizard would re-enter Parliament if Phil Twyford won the Mt Albert seat. Photo / The Aucklander

The Labour Party is sounding out Mt Albert voters on the byelection - including asking whether they want a "celebrity" MP and testing feelings on Judith Tizard re-entering Parliament.

Labour commissioned UMR Research group to hold several two-hour, focus group meetings of Mt Albert voters in the lead-up to the byelection, following the resignation of former Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Groups of about eight voters were asked questions aimed at helping Labour select a candidate and fine-tune its attack lines.

One participant said they were asked about Ms Tizard as part of a wider question about "celebrity" or well-known people standing for politics. Examples included Michael Jones, television presenter Paul Henry, comedian Mike King, actor Oscar Kightley and NZX boss Mark Weldon.

The focus group indicated concern about the possibility of a "Vote Twyford, get Tizard" campaign impacting on Labour's chances.

Ms Tizard lost the Auckland Central seat to Nikki Kaye but would re-enter Parliament to fill list MP Phil Twyford's list spot if he was the party's Mt Albert candidate and won. The participant said the group members were asked what they knew about Mr Twyford - who lives in Kingsland and is favoured by Helen Clark.

Labour's intensive polling of Mt Albert voters indicates the party is nervous about holding on to the electorate, which has always been viewed as a safe Labour seat, and where Helen Clark was MP for 27 years.

Just 2000 votes separated National and Labour in the party vote last election - and National's popularity has soared since then.

Labour Party president Andrew Little confirmed that the party had commissioned the focus groups and was polling in the electorate. He said it was common to test for important local issues.

He was unaware UMR had asked about Judith Tizard specifically and had not seen any reports from the focus groups which mentioned her.

Byelections had a higher level of focus on candidates than would normally apply. The party wanted to know what importance voters put on having a locally-based candidate and on the level of profile a candidate had.

"A range of names were put up to see if a high-profile name would carry more weight, or someone who was more conversant with local issues. It was testing to see if it would make any difference, given the growing celebrity nature of politics these days. I'm not aware of Oscar Kightley being thrown in the mix."'

Mr Jones, Mr King, Mr Henry and Mr Weldon are more commonly associated with the National Party.

Mr Jones has previously ruled out standing in Mt Albert, as has Oscar Kightley, who is a friend of Phil Twyford.

The focus group participants were paid $60 for taking part.

They were also asked about local issues, such as whether they preferred the Waterview tunnel, which National is reconsidering because of the high cost, or a surface road which would mean the destruction of houses.

The condition of state houses in the electorate and the Mt Albert railway station upgrade were also mentioned.

Nominations for Labour close on April 22, and about eight people have said they are interested. National is expected to stand Melissa Lee.