Carter bows out of Selwyn
February 26th, 2008 at 10:28 am by David FarrarDavid Carter has confirmed he will not seek the nomination for the safe National seat of Selwyn. Anger over the the selection process used last year has not dissipated so he has made the call so that the Electorate can unite behind a new candidate.
I trust what happened in Selwyn will act as a learning exercise for National, on how not to handle a selection. Contested selections are healthy – even when an incumbent MP is involved.
It is a highly desirable seat and I expect at least five candidates will seek it. Pre-selection will whittle that down to five and the selection is on April 8. Kudos to David Carter for putting the party first. He will of course have a winnable list place. Hell – on current polls almost every candidate has a winnable list place 
Related posts:
- Carter considering list only
- National reopens Selwyn nominations
- National Candidates
- Selwyn Selection
February 26th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Good on David Carter, because this opens the way for new blood to jump into the Selwyn blue seat. Nominations are open thanks to the hierarchy of the National Party addressing matters that needed a little ironing out and I am stunned at the credentials and calibre of one aspiring candidate.
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 11:08 am
If he is going to continue as National’s Agriculture spokes person and probably Minster after the election I would consider it desirable that he hold a `Rural Electorate Seat’. There just seems a better degree of understanding if that is the case.
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I meant to add `and accountability’.
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I hope Brian Connells people can now put the past behind them and in the words of head girl Helen ‘move on’ for the good of the party.
Vote:I don’t think Carter ‘needs a rural electorate seat’. After all these years, he has an excellent understanding of rural issues and has close contact with National rural electorate MP’s like Joe Goodhew. Being a list MP will make it much easier for him to cover the country at a national level and devote himself 100% to that as Agri minister.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Lets not mention any details of the ‘selection process’ that made some ‘angry’
Does ‘anger’ mean there could be a court case. Quelle horreur
Naturally DPF knows nothing that he hasnt read in the newspapers
Transparancy seems to be word that DPF and NP throw at any one else but not their party.
Could Carter be the first MP to lose his seat before the election has even been called.
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Nah ghostie – Benson-Pope already holds that honour – or had you forgotten him already?
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
GWW: Carter does not currently have an electorate seat, so can hardly “lose” it.
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Who is that d4j?
I’m a big fan of Angus McKay.
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
No Ghost … lets talk about it. People screwed up big time. The screw up recognised, acknowledged and corrective action initiated. Now, contrast that with how your Party acts and you very quickly see why you are 32% in the polls and heading south. And long may it continue …..
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Carter seems to have been nominated unopposed but will not seek the nomination?
Confused!!
What they mean is due to corruption during the selection process he has withdrawn his nomination.
Benson Pope didnt even get past the nomination process, which was widely covered in the media.
BP isnt the labour candidate for the next election, Carter was the NP candidate for this ‘plum’ seat. No comparison
I suppose the Tv camers will be there in Ashburton for this ‘contest’
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
GWW: Ashburton isn’t part of the Selwyn electorate. You really don’t have a clue what you are talking about.
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Ghost …. (1) BP did get through the nomination process but was defeated at selection. (2) Ashburton ain’t even in the new Selwyn electorate so I doubt they will have the NP selection meeting there. So, caught out again (you really do need to brush up on your ‘facts’ old son)
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
It is a highly desirable seat and I expect at least five candidates will seek it. Pre-selection will whittle that down to five and the selection is on April 8.
How does one whittle 5 candidates down to 5?
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Some new blood in Selwyn is exactly what they need. Alex McKinnon is an excellent candidate.
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
BP is not the selected labour candidate for Dunedin North for the next election.
Carter was the selected National candidate(unopposed), but has lost the seat before the first vote was cast.
Surely a first for a winnable seat
But then again didnt he lose his last seat Banks Peninsula.
He must be getting very careless
And yes you are right Ashburton is in Rangitata
Vote:http://www.elections.org.nz/mapping/report/selwyn.html
But even national.org seems to call Rakaia the same as Selwyn
http://www.national.org.nz/Electorate.aspx?Id=126
February 26th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
“But even national.org seems to call Rakaia the same as Selwyn
http://www.national.org.nz/Electorate.aspx?Id=126”
I think that’s more due to the fact that Rakaia (for a few months at least) is an existing electorate with a sitting National MP. Would be a little silly to turf that off the website just yet in favour of boundaries that are yet to exist.
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Poor old David Carter, once he was nationals Finance spokesman ,
then Don was elected on the List only,
never mind when Don got to be LoE then Carter might get his old job back
but no such luck for Carter, John Key was selected for helensville in spite of never living there.
Then Key became LoE , maybe Carter could be Finance spokesman.
Unlucky again , Simon English wanted the job so Carter could aspire to be agriculture spokesman
Maybe everyone EXCEPT Carter knows how that will turn out!!
Just as well The Press reported him as ‘being used to be a List MP’
Cant be trusted to hang on to anything
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Who the fuck is Simon English?
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Simon William English, but after his intensive speech training better known as ‘Bill’
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Fucking pathetic. Ghostwhowalksnz is right to be calling out Carter and the hypocrisy of everyone who has been responding to him in light of this thread http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2008/02/greens_lost_their_voice.html#comments is pathetic.
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
GWW – you are a total fuckwit . Ashburton is not the centre of the electorate. Rolleston is and the 60,000 people will be extremely well represented after the right candidate is put forward. The candidate will be selected by National’s selection process,Universal Sufferage, but I don’t expect such a fuckwit like yourself to understand that !! The dumb arse mentality of some freaks on here blows my fucking mind !!
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
You would think David Carter could go under the name , Matt Carter, that is as in door matt, as everbody walks over him.
As for Simon English or as he is called Southland Bill, who neither lives in Southland or is named Bill.
D4J blows his mind ???
I thought the horse that bit you in the bum sorted out what was left of your mind
But until you find where your mind went, ‘Matt’ Carter won the nomination for Selwyn unopposed.
Then he lost it , as there was some corrupt goings on, not that he had anything to do with it.
[DPF: And also 20 demerits to match the 20 D4J got]
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Be careful Ghostly, as the horse might bite your nose off ? Oh well it could do with a severe pruning . Do you type with it?
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
There appears to be a little confusion about electorate changes down here in the South. Perhaps there’s some JAFA’s getting confused?
This link should clear any remaining misunderstanding up:
http://www.elections.org.nz/news/ceo-media-summary-of-major-features.html
I am looking forward to Carter being a minister of Agriculture and rural affairs who will actually listen to farmers instead of Mr Jim ‘‘vote for farm dog micro chipping and your carbon credits are mine’’ Anderton.
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Ghost … nice to see your backtrack on Benson-Pope and Ashburton. You’re learning. Keep it up old son. With a little bit of help you even may learn to lift your comments out of the gutter. Go to it looser.
Vote:February 26th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Ross ( diplomatic immunity) Miller
The Tv cameras arent going to Ashburton, but as I pointed out national.org.nz also seems to call Rakaia with Selwyn ( instead of Rangatata which is around Ashburton) so was an easy mistake for me to make.
Still doesnt change the fact that ´Matt’ Carter has lost his second electorate , even before the votes were cast.
And as for losing his electorate in 2005 to Ruth Dyson, well that was a year that many national MPs won long time labour seats( with the help of the EB).
Bad luck for Matt.
Then again for a bright shining monent he was finance spokesman too. Now he has no electorate and hopes to be Agriculture minister in a future Key government.
It has to be asked .
Why would anybody bother when his replacement here is trumpeted with gratitude for the ‘new blood’
[DPF: Carter did not lose BP in 2005, it was lost earlier than that - 2002 or even 1999]
Vote:February 27th, 2008 at 10:02 am
I too thought 2005 didnt seem right
but this convinced me otherwise from Claire Trevett in the press gallery
Meanwhile, National has had to re-open nominations for its safe Selwyn seat in the South Island after complaints that potential candidates were pressured not to stand against a sitting MP.
List MP David Carter was initially selected unopposed, but three party chairmen complained that the selection committee breached the rules by getting rivals to stand aside in a bid to protect him.
Party president Judy Kirk has ordered the selection to be re-run in February.
Mr Carter lost the Banks Peninsula seat to Ruth Dyson in 2005.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10482788
[DPF: Just checked and he did lost the seat in 1999. One could claim he lost it also in 2002 and 2005 but lost is the wrong word as you have to have it to lose it. He lost the contest but not the seat]
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