Greens to soldier on minus local candidate +Poll

RACE RUN: John Milnes.

The Green Party will not be standing a candidate in the Whanganui electorate this year.

John Milnes, long-time Greens advocate and party candidate for the past three elections, told the Chronicle he would not be standing and the party had not been able to find a replacement.

"We did have somebody in mind but they hadn't been around here long enough," he said.

While disappointed, he said the party would be relying on candidates from neighbouring electorates to carry the flag in the lead-up to the September 20 general elections. They included Sarah Roberts (New Plymouth) and Jack McDonald (Te Tai Hauauru).

His decision was a hard call to make "but I don't have the same energy I did".

He was confident the Greens would maintain its presence locally.

"We'll be at the Saturday markets as we have always been. We're there all the time, unlike other parties who seem to react only when the election rolls around," he said.

Mr Milnes, 68, said he did not believe leaving the electorate vacant would have a major effect on the Greens' performance, particularly with regard to the party vote.