DemocracyNZ candidates leave over dispute with party board

DemocracyNZ leader Matt King maintains that his party remains strong and united despite the loss of one third of its announced election candidates. Photo / Jenny Ling

DemocracyNZ leader Matt King has described the exodus of one-third of the party’s announced candidates just months away from the general election as “a bit of a hiccup” rather than the party being in disarray.

An unnamed candidate unhappy with board decisions and the governance of the party in general has been de-selected, while another four others have resigned. The five were Steve Cranston, Kirsten Murfitt, Lee Smith, Matt Shelton and Bill Dyet.

King, who quit the National Party in February last year to set up DemocracyNZ, said recent developments were nothing new for political parties in the lead-up to the polls and maintained his party remained strong, united, committed and focused on its mission.

Names of 10 announced candidates, including Diana Burgess (Whangārei electorate) and King as the Northland candidate, are posted on the DemocracyNZ website.

DemocracyNZ will not contest the Māori seats.

King said three to four candidates would be announced over the next month and his party would have up to 15 candidates all up.

“Originally we planned to announce only 15 candidates and we’ve had so many people that wanted to jump in and got to 20 but we don’t want more than 20 ... it will be somewhere between 12 and 20 candidates, mainly due to logistical problems for a small party,” King said.

“We’ve had good candidates but for various reasons they were rejected, mainly due to logistical reasons. People come in with no political experience and sometimes their expectations do not match the reality on the ground regarding what the party stands for.”

Without going into specifics, he said one candidate who was de-selected had issues with board decisions and the party’s direction, which were not something the party took lightly. As a result, the decision of the board of six was unanimous. As a consequence, he said, four other candidates chose to resign.

“We understand this might be an unsettling and confusing time for some but it is not uncommon to have candidates to decide to depart from a party before an election.

We remain strong, united, committed and focused on the mission we embarked on when we started this party - which is to fight for our country and restore democracy in a fair and reasonable manner.

For a party polling more than 1 per cent in such a short time after its formation augured well for its future, King said.

Aside from party officials and candidates, he said DemocracyNZ has hundreds of volunteers across New Zealand that were still active and working towards taking the party to the October elections.