KEY POINTS:
Labour has ensured it will have an injection of new faces after the next election by abandoning its practice of ranking MPs ahead of other candidates, instead putting great emphasis on ethnic diversity.
Its top-ranking new face at No 12, is former Families Commissioner and Race Relations Conciliator
Rajen Prasad, who had been tipped to stand for Labour for several months.
It has also put Auckland Chinese lawyer Raymond Huo at No 21 and Pacific Island candidate Carmel Sepuloni, an administrator at the University of Auckland, at No 35.
Former Beehive adviser Jacinda Ardern is at No 20 - ahead of 18 MPs. The 28-year-old is at present working in London as a senior policy adviser to Sir Ronnie Flanagan, chief inspector of constabulary in the UK, and is also president of the International Union of Socialist Youth.
Labour's policy council chief, consultant Phil Twyford, is at place 26. He is the party's North Shore candidate.
Te Tai Tokerau candidate Kelvin Davis is ranked at No 29 ahead of the party's Te Tai Tonga MP and candidate, Mahara Okeroa.
Unless there is a collapse in Labour's vote all those candidates are likely to be elected to Parliament.
Prime Minister Helen Clark told the Herald last night that the list represented a "generational change" in Labour.
There could be as many as 13 new Labour MPs in the next Parliament given that some candidates were contesting electorate seats currently held by retiring Labour MPs.
"That is very, very significant renewal," the PM said.
"This is pretty much the outcome of three years' work - of recruitment, of candidates, identification, and so on."
Helen Clark said the highly ranked Dr Prasad had very broad appeal.
"We've got people on the list who should move very far, very fast," she said.
Four MPs - George Hawkins (Manurewa), Ross Robertson (Manukau East), Harry Duynhoven (New Plymouth) and Napier-based list MP Russell Fairbrother- have elected to stand for an electorate only and not have the safety net of the list.
The low-ranked electorate MPs who have been given a message that they may be on the way out are Mr Okeroa, West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor, Auckland Central MP Judith Tizard, Taupo MP Mark Burton and Hamilton West MP Martin Gallagher.
The lowest-ranking sitting members are list MPs David Hereora, Louisa Wall and Lesley Soper.
The electorate MPs who could lose their constituency seats but are assured of returning to Parliament because of a high list place are Ikaroa-Rawhiti MP Parekura Horomia, Hauraki-Waikato MP Nanaia Mahuta and Otaki MP Darren Hughes.
Last week's Herald-DigiPoll survey, translated to seats in the House, would have given Labour 45.
It won 50 seats at the last election.
Glitches:
The release of the Labour list was struck by gremlins yesterday.
Auckland Central MP Judith Tizard was mistakenly put at No 1 in the first issue of the list. The error was quickly spotted and she was relegated to No 38.
The top-ranking newcomer, former Families Commissioner Rajen Prasad, was inadvertently left off the list altogether, then put at No 12.
The list was issued a third time when it was realised that Invercargill-based list MP Lesley Soper was placed at No 77 of 78. She had a meteoric rise in the rankings to number 44.