Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont. Photo / Derek Flynn.
Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont. Photo / Derek Flynn.
KEY POINTS:
Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont is expected to stand for Labour in the safe seat of Maungakiekie, which will be vacated by Mark Gosche at the election.
Mr Gosche decided to seek a list position only, saying he needed flexibility with his personal circumstances. His wife,Carol, is severely disabled after a brain haemorrhage in 2003. Their son, Kristian, died tragically last year.
The selection will be held after the party congress in Wellington next week.
Carol Beaumont, 47, has been CTU secretary for five years.
"It is a diverse electorate but with a very strong working class component," she said.
She stressed that there was still a process to go through and that she had not yet won selection.
Other new faces likely to win safe Labour seats include Iain Lees-Galloway in Palmerston North, where Steve Maharey is retiring to become vice-chancellor of Massey University.
Mr Lees-Galloway, 29, is a campaigns and media adviser with the Nurses Organisation and is a former students' association president at Massey.
Down the line, a former student president at Victoria University, Chris Hipkins, 29, will stand a good chance of replacing Paul Swain in Rimutaka. He is at present working in the office of Prime Minister Helen Clark and has been a political adviser to Trevor Mallard and Mr Maharey.
Former Marlborough Express newspaper editor Brendon Burns is expected to replace Tim Barnett in Christchurch Central.
And public relations consultant Clare Curran is likely to win in Dunedin South, after David Benson-Pope failed to be reselected.
Two new list-only candidates expected to get good places on the final list are Auckland lawyer Raymond Huo, and London-based Labour activist Jacinda Ardern, 27, who will campaign for the overseas party votes. She is a former adviser to Helen Clark and is president of the International Union of Socialist Youth.
