National candidate for Hamilton

The National Party has selected a 33-year-old farmer, David Bennett, to stand in Hamilton East. The seat is held by Labour MP Dianne Yates with a majority of 614 votes. National MP Tony Steel lost the seat in 1999.

Mr Bennett will have to resign from the party's ruling board as a consequence of his selection. He owns farms near Te Awamutu, which he has contract managers to run, and lives in Hamilton. Mr Bennett is single and has not stood for Parliament before. Among those who also sought selection was National's Tauranga candidate in 2002, Tim Macindoe.