Green Party's Shaw downplays talk of Ohariu electorate stitch-up with Labour

Wednesday 1st June 2016

Green Party co-leader James Shaw says he has "never discussed the possibility with anyone" of standing for Parliament in the Wellington electorate of Ohariu under a deal to try to displace the National Party's support partner, the United Future party, at the 2017 election.

The daily Politik newsletter, written by veteran political observer Richard Harman, this morning suggested such a takedown strategy was in prospect in Ohariu after Green and Labour party leaders acknowledged the potential for electoral accommodations as a result of yesterday's establishment of a memorandum of understanding to "change the government".

Dunne held off the Greens' Gareth Hughes and Labour candidate Ginny Andersen in 2014.

The MoU does not explicitly mention such deals, but joint campaigning and policy announcements are possibilities, along with greater coordination of parliamentary tactics, and 'agree to disagree' and 'no surprises' agreements.

Former Labour MP Dunne has held onto his seat while United Future has polled too little bring other MPs into Parliament with him under the rules of MMP proportional representation voting.

"It came as something of a surprise," said Shaw, who pointed out he had stood in Wellington Central in 2011 and 2014 and taken the Greens' vote beyond Labour's in the seat, which is held by Labour's finance spokesman, Grant Robertson.

"I'm pretty established, I live there (in Wellington Central), I was born and raised there," he told BusinessDesk. "I think it would be odd of me to move at this point.

"In politics, anything can happen, but we have had those conversations and ... I have never discussed the possibility with anyone."

An Auckland Central accommodation could allow Labour's Jacinda Ardern a clear run against National's Nikki Kaye, Politik noted. National already has an arrangement of that sort in the Auckland seat of Epsom, where it stands a candidate but encourages supporters to elect an Act party MP in the electorate to give National a support partner necessary for stitching together a parliamentary majority post-election.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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