Nash faces nervous wait

KATE NEWTON
He's the great-grandson of a legendary former Prime Minister, good friends with the National politician who could become his opposition and possibly Labour's newest MP despite not getting to stand in Napier.
And you could be forgiven for missing his entry into politics.
Stuart Nash is the Labour Party's number 43, but whether that's a lucky or unlucky number won't be known until the special votes come in.
With preliminary results counted and Labour holding 43 seats in a future parliament, Mr Nash just scrapes through.
And although his name sounds familiar (his great-grandfather is former Prime Minister Walter Nash), Hawke's Bay people may be scratching their heads about who he is.
The younger Nash unsuccessfully made a bid to be the Labour Party's candidate for his home town of Napier.
Russell Fairbrother won that spot and then unsuccessfully campaigned for the electorate, which went to National's Chris Tremain on Saturday night, taking Fairbrother out of government.
"I really stepped back because the candidate needs to have centre stage," Mr Nash said, on arriving at Hawke's Bay Airport yesterday. He spent the weekend in Auckland and caught the election coverage on a friend's television.
By stepping into the background, Mr Nash's slide into parliament has happened without much attention and most would only know the 41-year-old, who plans to have input on international trade, as the Art Deco Trust's executive director.
"I will need to meet the chair of that trust today," Mr Nash said, knowing he will have to resign if the special votes don't alter Labour's numbers.
Mr Nash has also made a name for himself, since moving home to Hawke's Bay from Auckland for lifestyle reasons, as the Napier Hill Character Protection Society's spokesman.
At the start of the year, the group fought to block the resource consent application for a proposed 61-unit development on the old Hukarere College site.
Just how much he will get to represent Napier, where he was schooled at Napier Boys' High School, is still unknown.
"At this stage, I'm just hoping to get through the next two weeks," he said.
It's also possible if Labour gets to keep its number 43 the party could send him elsewhere, although he's hoping he will get to stay put and make a difference for the region.
"We have a lower number of tertiary graduates than any other region but there's no reason why Hawke's Bay shouldn't be a business hub," Mr Nash said.
To make this happen, he plans to work with an unlikely chum - National's Chris Tremain.
How does that work, you may wonder? "We talk about rugby," he said laughing. "No, we just agree to disagree on philosophy.
"I'm looking forward to sitting down and seeing how together we can do what's best for Napier."