Labour candidate ‘optimistic’ of Penk's seat after resignation

By Russell Palmer of RNZ

Labour’s candidate for Kaipara ki Mahurangi is optimistic of winning the seat after the incumbent, National’s Chris Penk, pulled out of the race.

National has confirmed it will find a new candidate to contest the seat.

In a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday night, Penk said he had decided not to stand in the election after discussions with his family.

That followed his demotion from the Cabinet and the stripping of all his portfolios after an hours-long caucus meeting earlier in the day, at which Prime Minister Christopher Luxon survived a vote of no confidence in his leadership.

“Chris Penk launched a leadership challenge this week, which resulted in today’s confidence vote,” the PM’s Office said.

In a one-sentence statement to RNZ, National president Sylvia Wood said the party would find a replacement for Penk for the November 7 election.

“The National Party acknowledges the resignation of Chris Penk and the enormous contribution he has made to the party and his electorate over the last nine years. A new candidate for Kaipara ki Mahurangi will be selected in line with the National Party’s rules and constitution.”

Penk has held the seat, which stretches between the border with Northland and the northwestern end of Waitematā Harbour, since its creation in the 2020 election. He held its predecessor, Helensville, after the retirement of former National Prime Minister John Key.

Penk won by 4435 votes in the “red wave” election of 2020, boosting that to 19,459 votes when National swept back into power in 2023.

However, Labour candidate Jo Swinburn told RNZ today that, while winning the seat would be a challenge, Penk’s resignation had changed the calculus.

“When I’ve been speaking to people in the electorate, they’re not particularly happy with where National’s at, at the moment. And although they had a very popular MP, perhaps that’s changed now.

Chris Penk. Photo / RNZ, Cornelisen

“I am optimistic now – much more so given that Minister Penk has decided not to contest the seat, although, in saying that, it is a very blue seat, so there is a lot of work to do.”

The leadership contest could also have an effect, he said.

He did not think Luxon had handled the challenge well.

“Look, I’m sure he has his reasons, but I was supposed to be at a meeting last night where Chris Penk was speaking, but obviously [Luxon] called all of his caucus members down to Wellington.

“I mean, it’s a bit of a waste of everyone’s time, really. Again, we just want them to be getting on with it. So calling everyone to Wellington, having this hoo-ha demoting Chris Penk, I don’t know, it’s just a distraction, so I don’t think it’s been handled particularly well. I think people are a bit over that.”

He said he remembered Luxon calling Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori the coalition of chaos, “but it’s seemingly within the National Party itself, that’s very chaotic at the moment”.

“Perhaps it will depend on who National stand or put forward to run in the seat, but yeah, it’s made things more interesting.”

Swinburn said this was his first foray into politics, having been parachuted into the candidacy in the past three weeks after Labour’s previous candidate, Tracey-Lee Repia, stood down.

Christopher Luxon speaking to the media after Wednesday's confidence vote. Photo / RNZ

“I was thinking that I would be taught a lesson or two by an experienced Cabinet minister ... but perhaps National will select someone that isn’t as experienced, so there might be two of us political newbies going for the seat.

“Without knowing how the internal mechanisms of the National Party operate, I’d imagine they’d want to get someone in pretty quick smart.”

He said the electorate was facing several challenges – particularly with flooding, traffic congestion, and the fast-tracking of residential developments on greenfield sites, which would “put a load or a stress on to the water systems and on to the transport systems”.

“There isn’t the adequate infrastructure to cope with this, and the locals are not pleased.”

As a political candidate, Swinburn is currently on leave from his role as a principal policy adviser for the new Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport.

This story was first published on rnz.co.nz