Labour dealt a blow in Ohariu after Greens candidate enters race
Greens candidate Tane Woodley last night threw his hat into the ring to contest the seat for his party.
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Hawke’s Bay
Labour candidate Greg O'Connor's chances of snatching victory in the Ohariu electorate have been dealt a blow by his party’s memorandum of understanding partner the Greens.
Last night Greens candidate Tane Woodley surprised many at a candidates' meeting by throwing his hat into the ring to contest the race.
The Greens had previously opted not to run in the seat to give Mr O'Connor a better chance of dethroning electorate MP Peter Dunne.
But after the former United Future leader revealed this week he would not be contesting the election, ending his 33-year career, Mr Woodley decided to enter the race.
He says he is only planning to campaign for the party vote but he is likely to split the left vote, making it easier for National's candidate, Brett Hudson, to win the electorate.
Last election Mr Woodley received 2764 votes. Labour candidate Virginia Anderson won 12,859 – just 700 short of Mr Dunne’s total share of the vote.
After the meeting, Mr Woodley said that, with Mr Dunne out of the race, the way was “open again” for the Greens to campaign for the party vote.
Meanwhile, @nzlabour and @NZGreens taking passive aggression to a whole new level over Ohariu.
— Rob Hosking (@robhosking) August 23, 2017
Asked if he thought his presence in the race would take votes away from Mr O’Connor, Mr Woodley said that it would “have an effect.”
“But I’m not chasing the electorate vote; I don’t think it will tip the balance. I think Greg will still have the advantage.”
Mr O’Connor told the meeting last night that “nothing surprises me in this election.”
Good to see Labour and the Greens getting some use out of the "Total Existential War" clause in their memorandum of understanding
— Ben Thomas (@BenThomasNZ) August 23, 2017
“I would imagine that there will be probably five other announcements that are going to be as significant as this one, the way things are going.
That means he will just have to keep “roll[ing] with the punches, just keep on and get as many votes as we can.”
Jason Walls
Thu, 24 Aug 2017
Thu, 24 Aug 2017
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Labour dealt a blow in Ohariu after Greens candidate enters race
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