KEY POINTS:
She smiles and locks her blue eyes on to the face of the person walking toward her. She says "good afternoon, here's some information about the Labour Party."
As the pamphlet changes hands, she pauses, and if the person walks on, she quickly zooms in on the next
person coming along.
Darien Fenton is well practised in trying to interest strangers in her pet causes.
This time, she is at the shops at the end of the Northwestern Motorway campaigning for her party as its candidate for Helensville.
That's the electorate which is one of the most staunchly National Party in the country and which is held by that party's leader John Key.
He kept the seat in the 2005 election, with a majority of 12,778 votes, improving on his 1705 vote margin in the 2002 poll - his first crack at getting into Parliament.
Darien Fenton says she is realistic about her chances of unseating him and is more focused on getting the party votes for Labour, which will allow her a second term list MP.
Previously, she was national secretary of the Service and Food Workers Union and also a vice-president of the Council of Trade Unions.
She said she volunteered for Helensville because she wanted to stay in west Auckland, her home of 20 years.
"There is 60,000 Labour Party votes in the five north electorates including Helensville and it's my job to get as many Labour people to continue to vote as I can."
Labour's 2005 candidate in Helensville, Judy Lawley, drew 9230 votes as a candidate and the party vote was 9761.
She recalls: "What votes we got, we certainly worked for them."
As it turned out the general election was close, so the strategy of seeking the party vote in Helensville was worthwhile.
This time round, Helensville is an even tougher blue nut to crack.
Boundary changes have cut out Massey, where Labour has drawn solid support, and embraced more rural areas of Rodney as well as new parts of North Shore.
Darien Fenton said her billboards have been trashed; white, middle-aged males tailgate her red car and she struck an ugly mood at a meeting in Hobsonville where there is opposition to the Government's push for a development of 3000 homes - 15 per cent of them state rentals or affordable housing.
"But it's wonderful to have a number of people who want to help get a Labour Government."
Helensville electorate:
Extends from Muriwai Beach and the South Head of Kaipara Harbour to include Helensville, Kumeu, Whenuapai, Hobsonville, North Harbour and Albany.
In 2005, John Key (National) retained the seat for a second term with 22,008 votes or 64.10 per cent of votes cast.
Labour is chasing the party vote, having secured 9761 votes in 2005 compared with National's 19,224 and New Zealand First's 2051.
Six candidates are seeking the electorate vote.
