Curran to stand
Clare Curran has confirmed she will seek the Dunedin South candidacy for Labour. Good.
I think it is a healthy thing in all parties when there is a contest for the nomination – especially in safe seats where winning the nomination almost makes you the MP by default.
That makes three challengers to David Benson-Pope. I wonder if he will withdraw and retire with some dignity rather than be thrown out?
Does anyone who knows, want to comment on how Labour selections cope with more than two candidates? If no candidate has a majority of the seven votes, does the one with the least support drop out?
That is what happens in National. There are generally 60 delegates and up to five candidates. If none of them get 31 or more votes – a majority, the lowest polling one drops out and then everyone votes again. One can end up with four rounds of voting on the selection night.
For a few years the rules had people rank the candidates, so that if no one got a majority, they merely reallocated the preferences of the lowest polling (like in Australia) until there was a winner. It was a lot quicker, and mathmetically the same thing as multiple rounds of voting.
However members actually enjoyed the suspense of learning the result stage by stage, and revoting after learning who had been eliminated. So the rules changed back a couple of years ago.
November 7th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Benson-Pope and dignity? Any linking of the two in a single sentence is oxymoronic in the extreme! However, it certainly sounds as though the party is making sure that he will not be the Labour candidate next year. How many other Labour MP’s will be nervously looking over their shoulders?
November 7th, 2007 at 9:32 am
<i>Does anyone who knows, want to comment . . .</i>
That’s what I like about you DPF – you’re an optimist.
[DPF: Oh it is hardly a state secret revealing how a three way vote is decided in a selection. I am sure it is in their rule book which is semi-public.]
November 7th, 2007 at 9:59 am
“Does anyone who knows, want to comment on how Labour selections cope with more than two candidates? If no candidate has a majority of the seven votes, does the one with the least support drop out?”
National votes; Labour has a committee and thus appoints. In other words it is whatever the committee decides to do.
Labour, unlike National, has its constitution on its website at http://www.labour.org.nz/labour_team/nz_council/ASTFIL80739.pdf
November 7th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
G is right. Whilst the make up of the committee is known, the outcome is not a simple plurality of a vote. Head Office has 3 members, the local LEC 2 (if 100 paid up members at the time of the selection), 1 is appointed by paid up party members on the night and then a straw poll is taken of all paid up members of the electorate at the meeting. That said, the committee is encouraged to reach a consensus. Invariably the ‘votes’ of the committee members are taken into consideration and in some cases it is usually clearcut who the winner is. It doesn’t matter how many candidates there are, the process is the same. Often it boils down to the persuasiveness of committee members. Obviously the Head Office 3 (who almost always vote as a block for the candidate the Party or H1 prefers) have great sway but if all 4 local votes are in favour of someone other than HO then the locals can override the influence of HO (I’ve seen this happen). The preference is for there to be a consensus and if that doesn’t work then a formal vote is taken. If that is deadlocked and no chance for a consensus then the selection is referred to the NZ Council and they decide.
November 7th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
I think DBP wants to be soundly beaten out of office! (He likes it that way apparently!)