Felicity Foy puts up hand to be Northland's National candidate

Far North District councillor Felicity Foy is hoping to replace Matt King as National candidate for Northland. Photo / supplied

Far North District councillor Felicity Foy has put up her hand for what's likely to be a hotly contested race to replace Matt King as National's candidate for Northland.

King lost the seat to Willow-Jean Prime in 2020's big swing to Labour and quit National last month to set up his own party, DemocracyNZ.

That leaves the candidacy for what used to be a safe National seat wide open.

The closing date for candidate applications is still months away but the Advocate approached Foy to find out if rumours about her interest in the role were correct.

The second-term councillor from Kaitaia confirmed she had put her name forward.

As a businesswoman and farmer's daughter — her parents still run a beef and dairy farm — she believed she was a good fit for a party that represented ''the backbone of the country, business and the rural sector''.

''From my family upbringing, I think we've always been taught to be independent and strive for new challenges. I think this is my next challenge.''

If she did get selected, and then elected, she would be able to draw on her experience in local government, which was highly topical given the housing crisis and the reforms the current government was trying to push through.

As a 36-year-old professional woman with a young family and Te Rarawa whakapapa, Foy said she was quite different to candidates the party had fielded in Northland in the past.

However, with National looking for younger people and greater diversity, that could be in her favour. Foy previously worked as a planner at the Far North District Council, then set up her own planning consultancy.

National's Northland electorate membership officer, Janet Huddleston, of Paihia, said no date had been set for the candidate selection process but she expected it would be in September or October. The timeline was set by party headquarters.

So far four people — two women and two men — were keen to contest the candidacy.

The electorate was allowed to put five names forward.

A pre-selection process would whittle down the number if more than five people put up their hands, Huddleston said.

Former MP Matt King split from National over vaccine mandates and has since set up his own party. Photo / Jenny Ling

Meanwhile, the former National MP for Northland, Matt King, has set up a new party called DemocracyNZ.

The party's website says it stands for ''democracy and equality, with freedom of choice, expression and access for all New Zealanders''.

King joined the recent protests in Wellington and has gained a following online for his anti-mandate platform.

He also represented police and the armed forces in their successful legal challenge against vaccine mandates.

DemocracyNZ has not yet been registered as a political party because King has to show the Electoral Commission he has 500 paid-up members.

However, King told the Advocate that would not be an issue. He estimated up to 3000 people had contacted him saying they wanted to join since last Friday's low-key launch.

He had also been contacted by people keen to stand for election under the DemocracyNZ banner. He was doing due diligence on them now.

''I've been really encouraged, I've been blown away, by the number of people who've expressed interest in being part of the team.''

He had also been meeting people keen to help fund the party so finance was unlikely to be a problem.

Despite the Government's move to end most mandates from April 4, he believed it was still a big issue for voters.

''The pain, distress and division caused by the mandates won't go away before the next election. A lot of people feel the current parties have let them down.''

King said the party would be strategic about which electorates it contested rather than trying to stand candidates everywhere.

Moerewa's Willow-Jean Prime was elected to the council in 2013 and stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in 2014 and 2015. She was elected as a Labour list MP in 2017, resigning from her council role early in her second term.

In 2020 she defeated National incumbent Matt King for the once true-blue Northland seat.

John Carter went in the opposite direction after being the local MP for 24 years. He is now serving his third term as Far North Mayor.