Leila Boyle, Labour party, Tamaki

Leila Boyle

Age: 28

Electorate opponents include: new National candidate, college principal Allan Peachey

Current job: Auckland City councillor (Tamaki-Maungakiekie ward) and part-time tutor in statistics at the University of Auckland.

Identifies as: Young(ish!) Pakeha New Zealander.

What do you say to those who accuse the Government of social engineering?

I don't think that recognising where the need is greatest and targeting spending towards those groups is social engineering.

Does being the youngest Auckland City councillor pose any problems or advantages?

There were a few problems in the beginning with some of my colleagues not taking me seriously, but they listen to me now. The main advantage is that I have a different life experience from everyone else currently on council - a child of the 80s and a teenager in the 90s, which was a pretty hard time for New Zealand.

Your political experience is impressive for someone so young, but what life experience would you bring to Parliament?

I've done the European OE thing, including working for a while in London. I've lived the life of a student and I've worked at a variety of jobs including in fast-food restaurants, a bed and breakfast hotel and in a warehouse. It's easy to forget what struggling to survive feels like once you're making a reasonable salary, but I haven't forgotten.

What do you make of polls?

I think a certain amount of volatility is to be expected at this stage of the electoral cycle. We only see the results for those who've made up their mind on the day they were asked the question. I think they will settle once policy starts coming out, particularly from the National Party, then voters can see the differences between the parties. I also have concerns as the polls use landline phones. There is an increasing segment of society which has no landline and relies solely on cellphones.

Do you believe the Government can't afford tax cuts?

National is completely wrong promising tax cuts. It is a simplistic vote-buying exercise. It's completely unsustainable unless there are major cuts in government services or there is increased foreign borrowing, both of which are unacceptable. I recommend checking out David Slack's tax calculator to get a feel for what tax cuts really mean for individuals and what they mean for the country as a whole. It's quite startling: www.optimisticpredictions.com/Tax/

Labour is increasingly criticised that it doesn't represent the mainstream. Do you?

My mother is a teacher and my father drives trucks. Yeah that sounds like middle New Zealand to me. They encouraged my sister and me to work hard at school, go to university and contribute. We've both done that but I still understand that not all New Zealanders had our advantages and some people need more targeted help than others.

Sling some mud: On what issue has the Opposition got the complete wrong end of the stick?

If Don Brash were Prime Minister right now we would be in a completely unjust and bloody war in Iraq which I find abhorrent. I believe New Zealand must have independent foreign policy.

Where are they on the right track?

They haven't published any policy yet so I can't really comment. All I've heard is rhetoric around the same old tired right-wing chestnuts about how we're being left behind by Australia, our children can't read or write and crime is on the increase - all of which are completely untrue.