September 17 cited as favourite election date

Is the best kept secret in politics finally out?

The Prime Minister may not have announced an election date, but Labour's candidates are pretty sure they know.

September 17 - that's the day Labour MPs and candidates say they are planning for.

And in a blue that will win him no friends on the ninth floor of the Beehive, Labour's Epsom candidate Stuart Nash has laid out a timetable for his electorate workers leading up to that day.

"If you are interested in helping in a very small way, our most critical pamphlet will be the one to be delivered a week before the election," he writes in a newsletter.
He then goes on: "So if you can give 2 to 4 hours on Saturday 10th September, then this would be very much appreciated!"

Helen Clark says that her decision on an election date will not be affected by Thursday's attacks in London.

The last possible date for the election, by law, is September 24 - but that would coincide with parents packing their kids into the car to head off for the school holidays.

Mr Nash - the great grandson of former Prime Minister Walter Nash - admitted he had no inside information on the final election date.

"But it can't be the 24th because that's school holidays, it's obviously not going to be when the All Blacks play, so it really does narrow down the dates.

"And it just gives the Labour Party plenty of time to get their good news messages out there, and just reassure the public that things are going to continue as well as they have."

Epsom is one of the most interesting battles in the country, with Act leader Rodney Hide fighting to seize it from National's Richard Worth in order to guarantee Act's return to Parliament.

Mr Nash said he would be aiming to win the party vote for Labour, but wasn't writing off his chances at sneaking through the middle: "Our unofficial campaign line is, 'the Titanic was unsinkable', so you never know what will happen," he said.

"We're taking the campaign very seriously. We're not taking ourselves too seriously."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY