Borrows a chance for Cabinet

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

Congratulations to National's Chester Borrows on a convincing election success on Saturday night.

Hard-working and un-flashy, some might say he hides his light under a bushel, but the voters in the Whanganui electorate can clearly see under any bushel.

He faced an energetic and upbeat contest from a worthy opponent in the shape of Labour's Hamish McDouall, but the mood of the country has clearly been with National for most of this campaign.

It was a campaign in which everything seemed to happen and then, at the end, nothing much happened. We are the same as we were.

For Mr McDouall, there is plenty to do as deputy mayor of Wanganui; while for Mr Borrows there may even be a well-deserved seat at the Cabinet table.

His work with the courts and justice portfolios - where he has rightly prioritised rehabilitation over retribution - have marked him as a man with a sound and safe pair of ministerial hands.

And a minister in Cabinet would do Whanganui no harm in terms of boosting our regional development.

There are other areas where Mr Borrows' centrist and consensus politics could be helpful:

Fight to make sure the district gets an adequate share of the New Zealand Transport Agency's funding assistance rate (FAR) as paying for the maintenance of roads is considered by many to be the biggest financial headache facing local councils.

Help ensure that changes to the Resource Management Act and employment law do not come at a high price for the environment or our workforce.

As well as noting the campaign efforts of Mr Borrows and Mr McDouall, should we also be congratulating Kim MacIntyre, who stood for the Conservatives and garnered 815 votes for himself and helped the party notch up 1642 in Whanganui - an electorate where (as far as records can tell) he has never set foot?

How galling that the Invisible Man from Auckland beat out Nancy Tuaine, a strong local advocate for the Maori Party, for third place.

However - sweet irony - the Conservatives failed to reach the 5 per cent threshold to earn a seat, while the Maori Party should have at least two MPs. If only Kim had actually visited us here, he might have got those extra votes to put them into Parliament.

The other significant number is perhaps the substantial party vote for NZ First in Whanganui - even though this time they did not field a candidate. A political phenomenon continues to defy the odds ... and logic.

The Greens also did not field a candidate and lost out accordingly in the party vote.

Congratulations also to Labour's Adrian Rurawhe for his telling win in Te Tai Hauauru over the very able Chris McKenzie, whom one hopes will not be lost to national politics.

Finally a salute to National's Ian McKelvie, the almost inevitable winner in Rangitikei - and good to see he already has his "to-do" list under way.