Long-time Labour MP and their nomination for Speaker should they win Government, Trevor Mallard, is the lowest ranked sitting MP in the party list published last night.
Mallard is not standing in his Hutt South seat which he has held since 1993 when the seat was called Pencarrow.
Last election he held on by a slim 709 majority.
He will apparently need Labour to get 31% to get back in — if they don’t make that total then they have no show of becoming the Government anyway.
The final publication of the list last night ended a day of speculation and apparent drama with reports of a crisis meeting designed to meet complaints from Auckland Maori broadcaster, Willie Jackson, that his list ranking of 21 was too low.
But in reality, assuming Labour polls somewhere between 30 and 35 he is sure to get into to Parliament.
The two top MPs on the list are Andrew Little and David Parker, then Raymond Huo in 12th position and Mallard in 32.
The rising star is undoubtedly Priyanka Radhakrishnan, who has been running the party’s ethnic outreach programme in Auckland and who is standing for Maungakiekie.
With her background in the Asian women’s organisation, Shakti Radhakrishnan, who has been ranked 11 and is the highest ranked new candidate, brings a previously absent ethnic representation to the top of Labour’s list.
However other ethnic candidates have not been ranked so highly.
The announcement of the list was pushed out, first from the morning into the afternoon then last night.
There was a suggestion party secretary, Andrew Kirton, would talk to the media but he didn’t.
No one else in Labour was talking last night — Leader Andrew Little and President Nigel Howarth will hold a press conference this morning.
You can download the list here
