Shaneel Lal: Vote splitting was death knell for Labour as government

Putting candidates against each other in many electorates did Labour and the Greens no favours. Photos / Alex Cairns

OPINION

Labour and Greens were each other’s worst enemies this election.

The second most frustrating thing after the left lost was watching Labour and Greens split votes in multiple winnable seats and create a safe passage for National to win those seats.

I was shocked to see National’s Melissa Lee lead Mt Albert over Labour’s Helen White for most of the night. Labour has won the seat every election since 1946, so it made no sense it had swung so easily. White and Lee were separated by only a few votes all night, and White won the seat by 106 votes in the end.

What happened? Labour and Greens split the vote. The Greens candidate received 6012 votes. It nearly cost Labour Mt Albert.

White has a nervous wait as the special votes are counted.

In five other electorates, combined, Labour and Greens received more votes than the National candidate, but because they split the votes, they lost.

In New Lynn, Labour’s Deborah Russell lost to National’s Paulo Garcia by 483 votes. The Greens candidate received 3804 votes.

In Te Atatū, Labour’s Phil Twyford lost to National’s Angee Nicholas by 30 votes. The Greens candidate received 2508 votes.

In Mt Roskill, Labour’s Michael Wood lost to National’s Carlos Cheung by 1429 votes. The Greens candidate received 2108 votes.

In Hutt South, Labour’s Ginny Anderson lost to National’s Chris Bishop by 1094 votes. The Greens candidate received 1605 votes.

In Banks Peninsula, Labour’s Tracey McLellan lost to National’s Vanessa Weenink by 83 votes. The Greens candidate received 6470 votes.

The Greens had no realistic chance of winning these electorates but they contested them anyway. It is painful to look at these figures. I cannot understand the strategy employed by the left in these electorates, but it seems both parties let their ego get in the way of common sense.

I have no doubt Labour is screaming with frustration, and Greens are snarling in defence. They are both to blame. I don’t expect either party to put their hand up to accept responsibility for splitting the votes, but I hope they have both learnt a lesson from this result. Labour and Greens need to start cutting deals with each other to avoid competing in some electorates, and they need to be open and transparent about doing so.

Labour and Greens supporters have accepted the parties will be coalition partners for the foreseeable future. They accept that both parties need to perform well for a Labour-Greens government to be possible. Cutting deals will allow their supporters to use their candidate vote strategically.

The parties had limited resources - money and people - for campaigning, and they spent a significant amount competing with each other. We knew a big blue wave was headed our way. Labour and Greens’ focus should have been securing as many seats as they could.

It was clear Greens candidate Chlöe Swarbrick was going to win Auckland Central. Labour shouldn’t have contested that seat. The result shows Labour had no chance of winning. Labour should have also agreed for the Greens to have Wellington Central and Rongotai in light of the Greens’ sweeping victory in Wellington local government elections. In return, Labour should have asked the Greens not to contest seats Labour could win but were going to struggle at this election.

Whatever their reason may be for not making these deals, it cost their potential coalition five electorates, and that is a real shame. The next election will come around quickly, and Labour and Greens must put their egos aside and work together if they want a chance at winning.

Shaneel Shavneel Lal (they/them) was instrumental in the bill to ban conversion therapy in New Zealand. They are a law and psychology student, model and influencer.