Editorial: Heat on as candidates square up

Photo / Glenn Taylor

Who said the election in this region was boring?

Nearly 300 Tukituki voters who braved the rain to attend a Hawke's Bay Today Meet the Candidates meeting at Karamu High School on Monday night would tell you it most definitely is not.

I had the pleasure of moderating the meeting, held in conjunction with NewstalkZB, and it was a cracker.

Six of the seven candidates attended, with Romana Manning from Legalise Cannabis Aotearoa sending her apologies.

The last election would indicate that this should be a safe seat for the incumbent MP and minister, National's Craig Foss, who scored a 9000 majority then. Many expect him to stroll in, but it appears someone forgot to tell his rather feisty Labour opponent. Anna Lorck delivered a performance on Tuesday night that got her the most heckling and the loudest applause.

The only poll that matters is the one on the day, but, unlike last time, Mr Foss has a candidate who is prepared to take him on head first. Whether it is enough to do what many view as the impossible is another thing. Only time will tell. Some say it is still Mr Foss' to lose.

Interestingly, the Greens' Chris Perley and Conservative Party candidate Stephen Jenkinson, who are only standing to encourage people to vote for their parties, put in spirited performances that may see them snaffle a few electorate votes.

Next week we move on to Meet the Candidate meetings for Napier and Ikaroa-Rawhiti.

They will be worth attending if Tukituki was anything to go by.