Christian Heritage pins hopes on Philip Sherry

By Vernon Small

Here is the news.

The Christian Heritage Party has catapulted veteran broadcaster Philip Sherry to number two on its list in a move to boost its chances of winning seats at the November 27 election.

The party's only sitting MP, Alliance defector Frank Grover, is at number six.

The white-haired Mr Sherry, whose posh tones were the voice of television and radio news for 30 years, said yesterday that he was not a "show pony" for Christian Heritage.

"I wish I was a brunette and could claim to be one. I lost my ego a very, very long time ago. A total waste of time," he said.

Mr Sherry, an Auckland regional councillor, was New Zealand's first "Broadcaster of the Year" in 1977.

The leader of Christian Heritage, the Rev Graham Capill, said he was utterly convinced that the party was on track to pass the 5 per cent threshold needed to win seats in Parliament.

It has barely rated in recent opinion polls, although in coalition with the Christian Democrats it won 4.3 per cent of the vote in 1996.

The top six places on the party's list are: 1, Mr Capill; 2, Mr Sherry; 3, Ewen McQueen, economist; 4, Gael Donoghue, pharmacist; 5, John Bryant, party executive director and former army officer; 6, Mr Grover.