THE two major parties have made their choices and it is game on for the Napier and Tukituki parliamentary seats in this year's general elections.
The decision by incumbent Napier MP Chris Tremain not to seek re-election has certainly made things interesting, while in the Tukituki electorate, sitting National PartyMP Craig Foss has the luxury of a 9660-vote majority from last election, which will make it tough for his opponent, Anna Lorck, to beat him.
Ms Lorck won Labour's nomination at the weekend and although she is new to national politics, she does have an impressive network of local contacts. More importantly for those seeking change, she is a fresh face and she is female.
However, Mr Foss is a wily operator who will be looking to improve on his majority to cement his place in John Key's Cabinet after some talk that his fortunes might have waned in Wellington.
In Napier, the fight between Labour's Stuart Nash and his National Party rival, Wayne Walford, is shaping up to be a good one, with Mr Nash probably the front runner at this stage. Mr Nash, who has been in Parliament before as a list MP, will be determined to return as an electorate MP. He is organised, has a good team around him and is using an anti-amalgamation platform to good effect. If he can get anti-amalgamation Napierites voting for him then he should stand a good chance of taking the seat.
This is not to under-estimate his opponent, who, aside from being the Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce chief executive, has some political pedigree. Mr Walford was campaign manager for Bob Clarkson when he famously defeated Winston Peters for the Tauranga seat in the 2005 election.
With good contests likely in the Ikaroa-Rawhiti and Wairarapa seats, our province should be in for an exciting election.
