More changes as NZ First looks to future

New Zealand First Party President Anne Martin talks to Mahesh Bindra. Photo / Dean Purcell

More changes in New Zealand First are on the way after the recent tussle for the deputy leadership and as many in the party look to the future.

NZ First president Anne Martin is stepping down and will be replaced by one of three candidates after a vote at this weekend's annual conference.

Mrs Martin's daughter Tracey Martin was the party's deputy leader and the two were part of a five-strong panel that decided the party list and effectively who would make it into Parliament.

However that influence - which caused friction with some within the party including former MP and North Shore mayor Andrew Williams - has now waned.

Ron Mark replaced Tracey Martin as deputy leader after a closely-fought caucus vote this month and Anne Martin has now confirmed she will not seek re-election as president.

She told the Herald that she had made that position known three months ago and therefore well before her daughter's replacement as deputy leader.

"It is not sour grapes...I am 74. And I am wanting to travel, and this is like a 40 hour week job. I have done two years, and I also think that if we have a new president and if the election comes early for whatever reason, then we have continuity."

The three presidential candidates are understood to be former MP Brent Catchpole, party official and former candidate Kristin Campbell Smith and Kevin Gardener, who was president before being replaced by Mrs Martin.

Mrs Martin, who was elected president in October 2013, confirmed she would instead seek to become party secretary, a position she previously held for six years.

"It is not nearly as demanding - it is in election year, but in the interim you do get some breathing space."

Mr Mark, who was a list MP from the 1996 election until NZ First failed to retain any seats in Parliament in the 2008 election, has been touted as a future leader of the party.

He has deflected questions about succeeding Winston Peters - saying the leader is "yet to peak" - and Mrs Martin said while the party always looked for candidates who could take it into the future, it would be "silly" to push the issue.

"We are not asking him [Mr Peters] to come up with an alternative at this point. I mean how silly would we be - look where we are right now with the effort he made over a six week period in March this year [when Mr Peters won the Northland byelection]. I couldn't have done it. You probably couldn't have done it either."

Remits at the weekend's conference, held in Rotorua, include officially establishing a youth wing.

Curwen Rolinson, widely referred to as the party's former youth leader, was reported by TV3 to have this month appeared in court charged with possession of cannabis for supply.

Mr Peters later issued a statement saying the party did not have a youth wing. He told the Herald that the formation of one would be discussed this weekend to tap into the significant support NZ First had amongst tertiary students.

Another topic at the conference will be how to significantly grow party membership.

Mr Peters would not reveal current membership numbers, but said they did not reflect the party's significant support from voters.

He wanted NZ First to become a "mass membership" party, and said that would help with fundraising.

NZ First captured 8.66 per cent of the vote in last year's election, which translated to 11 MPs - a number which grew to 12 after Mr Peters' triumph in Northland's byelection.

The party's deputy whip Clayton Mitchell this week hit out at National and Labour for stealing its policies such as a ban on foreign buyers and pushing immigrants to the regions, and that was a charge repeated by Mr Peters.

"New Zealand First has been standing for what is now the political agenda for a long time."