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Minister of Racing, and a former Hunua MP, Winston Peters knows there’s no such thing as a sure thing, at least not when there’s more than one horse in the race.
It’s not the kindest analogy to use when referring to politicians (or horses?) but is it so awful to be compared to a thoroughbred?
Since our last issue hit the streets, New Zealand First’s Casey Costello announced that she will be in the running for the Port Waikato electorate seat. As she says in her column (click here):
“[Port Waikato] is my home, where I have lived and worked most of my life, and I look forward to being able to continue serving.”
Costello is a list MP, but she also made a play for Port Waikato soon after the general election in 2023. A by-election was triggered due to the untimely demise of ACT candidate, Neil Christensen. As his name had been on the ballot, (wrong sport, but) a mulligan was needed.
Peters initially lost his bid for the Hunua electorate in 1978 to Labour’s Malcolm Douglas (brother of Roger Douglas), but a re-count put him over the top.
Costello wasn’t close enough in 2023 to follow suit and Bayly retained his seat, but her move should ensure that she’s not considered a dark horse coming in from the outside either.
Labour didn’t stand a candidate in the by-election, but they will ante up this time, and National will be expecting to secure the seat once again even without Bayly leading the charge.
As featured previously, a pair of local Matts – Labour’s Matt Brachi and National’s Matthew Paul – are on the ballot alongside another local, Carl Morgan (Green Party), who could give them a run for their money.
ACT hasn’t announced a candidate, the Times understands, and there will be others from minor parties throwing their hats into the ring, but it’s already shaping up to be quite the local derby.
As for Papakura, National’s Emma Chatterton could be the heir to Judith Collins, who has already stood down, but that’s another story, a horse of a different colour.
“A racehorse is an animal that can take several thousand people for a ride at the same time.” – anonymous.
Again, it’s not the most flattering of comparisons, but politics could be said to be a little like a horse race in this respect too.
