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Election shake-up DON FARMER
Wairarapa MP Alastair Scott. PHOTOS/FILE
National’s Alistair Scott remains at the helm of the Wairarapa electorate, albeit with a greatly reduced majority at 14,988 votes. He will be joined in parliament by newcomer Kieran McAnulty (Labour), 12,242 votes, and Ron Mark (NZ First), 7079 votes, who both made it in based on their list positions. Mr Mark is second on the NZ First list, behind Winston Peters, and has been widely tipped to succeed Mr Peters when the party’s founder eventually retires from politics. He is likely to be a Cabinet minister in the newly formed coalition government, regardless of how that government is structured. The outcome of the election, which has made a marriage with NZ First inevitable for either National or Labour if they hope to govern, dictates that NZ First gains some Cabinet posts. That would leave the way clear for Mr Mark to become a minister, perhaps of defence or police or even as minister for primary industries. He has a military background, has been a law and order advocate while in parliament, and understands the rural community, so could conceivably fit into any of those roles. His electorate vote on Saturday failed to rival the main parties in an election which was
Kieran McAnulty.
Ron Mark.
somewhat schizophrenic for NZ First, which failed to win an electorate seat. That included Mr Peters losing Northland, but the party captured 7.5 per cent of the party vote. That allows the party nine list MPs in Parliament, a situation that ensures their presence in any coalition. Mr McAnulty is untried and it remains to be seen just how effective he will be when he takes his seat in the House. He has declared his motivation for being there is to do everything in his power to promote Wairarapa by giving the region a voice and advocating for its residents. Both Mr Mark and Mr Scott should now be well-versed in the protocols of Parliament but Mr McAnulty will likely recall the advice given by former Prime Minister Sir Keith Holyoake to freshman MP Robert Muldoon – “learn to breathe through your nose”. The biggest casualty of the election in terms of Wairarapa was the loss of Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox. Mrs Fox, a list MP in the last Parliament, fell victim to her party’s dismal showing nationally. The Maori Party was decimated, gaining only 1.1 per cent of the party vote and
seeing its supporters deserting it. Most fled to Labour, which won all the Maori seats, including recapturing Waiariki from Maori co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell, who has now declared he is quitting politics for good. The Green Party’s John Hart secured 1352 Wairarapa votes, and will have to sit out another parliamentary term. He was 12th on the party’s list and looked to have an excellent chance of becoming a list MP before Metiria Turei’s shock admission of having defrauded WINZ while on a benefit wrecked her career and caused Greens support to crash. It recovered somewhat to reach 5.9 per cent of the party vote but Mr Hart needed that to reach at least 9 per cent to become a parliamentarian. The remaining two Wairarapa candidates, independent James Harold and Act’s Roger Greenslade failed to cause even a ripple with 133 and 105 votes respectively.
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