The bloodless battle for Napier: Nash and Nimon say tight race remains a possibility

Katie Nimon and Stuart Nash have different thoughts on the prospect of Napier having two representatives in Parliament.

Labour's Stuart Nash has admitted to feeling a few butterflies as the largely bloodless battle for the Napier electorate winds up.

National candidate Katie Nimon says her party should not be written off heading into election night on Saturday and predicts the Napier seat will be closer than many think.

Nash retained the seat with a 5220 majority over National's candidate David Elliot in the 2017 election and with Labour soaring in the polls, is hot favourite to retain it again.

However National beat Labour in the party vote in 2017, taking 46.1 per cent of the vote to 37.7 per cent.

Nash said he wouldn't be taking anything for granted, but is confident about the majority of the party vote in the electorate going to Labour.

"I think [Labour leader] Jacinda [Ardern] has done absolutely brilliantly, and I think we've sold a vision and a plan that we've got for the next three years to the country well," he said.

Nimon said a National triumph in Napier's party vote should not be written off.

"There's a lot of potential for us to take a win, based on the feedback I'm getting on the ground, it defies the polls," she said.

Nash said he was less sure about the candidate vote than Labour's chances in the party vote.

He said although his team ran a good campaign and did everything possible, he was still nervous about the outcome.

"You never believe it either way until the results come through on Saturday night," he said.

Nimon agreed, and said there is no way of knowing how the vote would go.

"All I feel is confident that however far I've gone, I've made good progress."

She said she was committed to representing Napier in the long term as well.

"People need to be confident that no matter what way it goes, I'll still be here for the next election," Nimon said.

National candidate Katie Nimon, right, on the campaign trail at Ajuna Eatery last Wednesday. Photo / Supplied

"You're not getting rid of me."

With Nash at number 12 on Labour's list and Nimon at 45 on National's, there is a slim chance they could both end up in Parliament no matter who wins the electorate seat.

Nimon said that would be a really good result for the constituency, and thinks the people of the Napier electorate have seen that possibility too.

"The whole area, all the way from Taradale to Mātāwai, has been largely neglected over the past six years because it is just such a big area," she said.

"I think ultimately that would be the best outcome for the Napier electorate, because by and large we get double the representation."

But Nash said list MPs had no mandate to represent their constituency in Parliament, something he knows well having served as a list MP while Chris Tremain held the Napier seat from 2008 to 2011.

"If they want their local MP to be sitting around the Cabinet table in government when the really difficult decisions are made around where resources are allocated and how to do things, then they need to ensure that I'm their local MP.

Current MP Stuart Nash, right, on the campaign trail on Wednesday at EIT. Photo / Supplied

"I stand on my record of what I've done for Napier and what I'll continue to do for Napier."

Nash noted it has been a clean campaign from all sides, and that all the candidates had got on very well.

"An example is if any of our hoardings are defaced we get a call from the National team, and we do the same to them," he said.

Nimon agreed that the pair and their teams have a good relationship, and that they were keen to play a fair game on the campaign trail.