Labour ponders new candidate for Napier after Stuart Nash

Napier MP Stuart Nash in early April after announcing he'd no longer be seeking a fourth term as Napier MP. The Labour Party expects to announce a replacement candidate about May 20. Photo / Warren Buckland

A Labour Party candidate to succeed MP Stuart Nash in the Napier electorate is expected to be known later this month, although the party is not yet saying how many have been nominated.

The nominations were opened in early April following an announcement that Nash was standing down, despite his continued candidacy having previously been confirmed by the party.

Nominations closed on Friday night, but party Napier electorate committee chairman Mark Cleary said there would be no announcement before May 20, when it is hoped a new candidate will be confirmed.

It includes also not revealing the numbers or identities of anyone seeking the nomination, in a process which can include confirmation of a single nominee or a selection process involving party headquarters and local electorate input and a possible membership vote.

The announcement will come after the presentation of Budget 2023 in Parliament on May 18, and the triennial general election ends on October 14, deciding about 120 electorate and party list MPs and which party will lead the Government for the next three years.

Stuart Nash, the Napier MP for nine years since winning the seat back for Labour following the retirement from Parliament of Chris Tremain, who had held the seat for the National Party since 2005.

While initially seeking to extend his time in Parliament, Nash announced his withdrawal amid a series of revelations worrying the leadership about his role in Cabinet, where he had been Minister of Police and had held several other ministerial responsibilities since Labour returned to the Government benches in 2017.

A new candidate would become just the sixth to hold the banner in the Napier electorate in the last 69 years, following the parliamentary terms of Jim Edwards (four terms from 1954-1966), Gordon Christie (five terms, 1966-1981), Geoff Braybrooke (seven terms, 1981-2002), Russell Fairbrother (one term, 2002-2005) and Nash (2014-2023).