MPs in long-distance drive for votes

By BRONWYN SELL in LONDON

While New Zealand sleeps, the country's political parties are fighting for votes 18,000 kilometres away in London.

Outside a Farringdon club last Wednesday, a green T-shirted man, Christiaan Briggs, was handing out Green Party flyers to young New Zealanders stumbling out of an all-night dance session into a drizzling morning.

A few days later, in Fulham, southwest London, Labour MP Tim Barnett was campaigning in O'Neills pub, popular with antipodeans.

The Christchurch Central MP said he had wondered at the logic of leaving his electorate to campaign on the other side of the world, until he met three constituents at the bar.

Act deputy leader Ken Shirley and MP Owen Jennings spent Thursday night in an open political meeting at a Hyde Park hotel, and the local National Party branch made campaign trips to expat pubs during a delayed screening of Saturday's Bledisloe Cup test.

And parties from across the political spectrum came together for a debate on Thursday night to try to convince a smattering of New Zealanders to vote their way.

Mr Briggs, Mr Barnett and Mr Shirley lined up alongside retiring National MP Doug Kidd and a local spokesman for the Alliance, Duncan Lithgow, in what is thought to have been London's first New Zealand electoral debate.

Almost all donned party colours - Mr Barnett in a red shirt, Mr Briggs in his green T-shirt, Mr Kidd in blue and Mr Lithgow in light green - to deliver their party line to 80 Kiwis, mostly young professionals, in the New Zealand News UK Political Forum.

Mr Briggs outlined the Green Party's stance on genetic modification and warned that New Zealand needed to take third-party insurance out on Labour.

Mr Kidd, in what he said was his last political speech - adding that there were those who would be thrilled - explained National's plans to ease up on student loans.

"Things were pretty good in the last three years, but ... the groundwork was laid by the previous National Government," he said.

Mr Lithgow told the assembled: "We're the lucky ones," but urged them to vote with the interests of disadvantaged people at home in New Zealand in mind, while Mr Shirley promised that Act would rein in Government spending.

Mr Barnett, who was born in Britain, said Labour had proven to be a Government of action, one of the most successful Governments in our nation's history.

Most of those in the audience - presumably with the exception of former National cabinet minister Denis Marshall, now secretary-general of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association - seemed to be leaning left.

Whangarei man Simon Ward, who moved to London three weeks ago after travelling through Asia for a few months, said he had thought the debate would provide a good summary of the election issues back in NZ. It didn't, because it was "political posturing without much substance".

But he was impressed with Labour. They were the only party who seemed to present a well-thought-out action plan, rather than just complaining.

Act and the Green Party have traditionally done well out of the overseas vote. Mr Shirley said there were thousands of potential votes in the UK. "Between 80,000 and 100,000 New Zealanders are thought to be there in summer and we want to grab them."

At New Zealand House in Haymarket, the election boxes are filling up. By the end of the first day of voting, on Wednesday, a steady trickle had added up to 170 votes, and the local returning officer expected momentum to build over the following week. Last year the High Commission processed more than 3000 votes, and more people voted through the post. This year, for the first time, ballot forms can be downloaded from the internet and faxed to New Zealand.

Nick Vela, aged 21, who moved to London from Remuera three years ago and is now studying at the London School of Economics, said he thought he'd better "come down and do my civic duty", as he posted his vote in the ballot box.

New Zealanders are being offered more than just their right to vote - they get Minties with every registration.

Full news coverage:
nzherald.co.nz/election

Election links:
The parties, policies, voting information, and more

Ask a politician:
Send us a question, on any topic, addressed to any party leader. We'll choose the best questions to put to the leaders, and publish the answers in our election coverage.