Cunliffe distances himself from Gibson

David Cunliffe at the RSA fundraising sausage sizzle in Hokitika. Photo / Audrey Young

Labour leader David Cunliffe has dissociated himself from his Rangitata candidate, Steve Gibson, and is not encouraging anyone to vote for him.

"We are campaigning for the party vote in that seat and I don't expect that he is going to be a Member of Parliament."

Mr Cunliffe last month put Mr Gibson on a final warning when he called Prime Minister John Key "Shylock" and a "nasty Little creep," - at odds with Labour's "Vote Positive" campaign.

Mr Gibson is reported in the Timaru Herald today as saying his party was being too "respectful" of National and he was sick of towing the party line.

Labour was "not going to win by being Mr Soft-arse softly-softly" and he was prepared to call it as he saw it.

He was concerned about the "degradation of the public's confidence in the democratic process by Judith Collins, Cameron Slater, Jason Ede and other rotten Shylocks".

Mr Cunliffe said Mr Gibson could not pulled as a candidate.

Asked if people in Rangitata should vote for Mr Gibson, Mr Cunliffe said: "We are campaigning hard for the party vote....People will make up their own mind."

With two weeks to go the election, Mr Cunliffe is campaigning on in Hokitika and Greymouth with local MP Damien O'Connor.

He is due to meet the Pike River families later today - the families of 29 men killed in the Pike River mine explosion in November 2010.

"We will be reinforcing to them our commitment that we will be doing everything possible to retrieve the bodies from the Pike River mine."