Tanczos 'quietly confident' of returning as MP

Nandor Tanczos

This morning Nandor Tanczos will get up, make breakfast for his 2 1/2-year-old daughter Pirimaaia and then sit down to begin the anxious wait for the special vote results.

By 10am the Green Party candidate, No 7 on the list, will know if he is returning to Parliament for his third term. Despite having his political future hanging in the balance, the Hamilton-based Rastafarian says he is reasonably relaxed and is maintaining a philosophical attitude.

"There is nothing I can do to change the final outcome, so there is no point being stressed out. If I stress out I'm just going to upset myself, I'm going to upset my family. I'm just waiting."

Besides that, the 39-year-old is quietly confident he will return to Parliament. "Looking at the history of special votes and how the Greens have done on them, I think I have a pretty good chance of getting in."

The Greens need to increase their share of the party vote from the 5.07 per cent they got on election night to 5.32. If Mr Tanczos returns it will be at the expense of National list MP Katrina Shanks.

"I think it is much worse for her than it is for me," Mr Tanczos said of the waiting game, "because she is kinda almost there and may miss out, but she would have got a tiny taste. But with me I'm kinda out and almost in."

Ms Shanks gave little away yesterday, saying she did not have any expectations.