Benson-Pope may stand as an Indpendent
May 29th, 2008 at 8:37 am by David FarrarAn ODT story on the NZ Herald site says that David Benson-Pope may stand as an Independent for Dunedin South, campaigning for people to give Labour the party vote and him the electorate vote. It seems the electorate is very unhappy with what has happened:
The Otago Daily Times understands the MP has been telling people in the electorate that under MMP, they had a choice of voting for Labour with their party vote but that they could vote for any candidate.
Inquiries by the newspaper found a high level of discontent in parts of the electorate, particularly centred on the South Dunedin branch, which has the money and the people to mount a campaign in support of Mr Benson-Pope.
A women’s branch has disaffiliated itself from Dunedin South and is considering its options, which include affiliating to the Dunedin North electorate or the party’s Otago regional council.
The South Dunedin branch is now controlled by Benson-Pope supporters, although Labour electorate committee chairman Richard Good said yesterday the public comment from the branch was “nothing but 100 per cent’ behind Ms Curran.
That is a fascinating comment – how the “public comment” was 100% behind Claire Curran. One has to ask then what is the private comment?
Benson-Pope winning the seat could be beneficial to Labour as he would vote with them, and him winning the seat might gave them an extra List MP.
Related posts:
- What if Benson-Pope wins?
- Benson-Pope looks set to stand
- Will Labour expel Benson-Pope?
- Benson-Pope not standing
May 29th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Interestingly, a win by DBP would not create an overhang, something that only occurs when a member of a registered party gets a seat their party vote didn’t entitle them to.
[DPF: Indeed. Off memory they only assign 119 seats to parties if a seat is won by an Independent.]
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Hes standing now?
I understood be prefered bent over.
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 8:51 am
I don’t suppose there is any chance he might split the vote and allow the National candidate to win that seat?
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Will he be using tennis balls to lure voters?
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 9:01 am
He must really enjoy the punishment
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Conway Powell only got 26% of the vote there in the last elecetion as a national candidate, less than half that of BP. So a split in the Labour vote would have to matched by a reasonable increase in votes for Powell. This is no doubt something he will be hoping for though as it’s his best chance for becoming the electorate MP
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Thats what I hear Yeti.
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 9:17 am
There is a slight swing to National but it is not sufficient to get Mr Powell elected. Mr Benson-Pope can stand safe in the knowledge that he will not cost Labour the seat. There is a slight swing to National but it is not sufficient to get Mr Powell elected. Mr Benson-Pope can stand safe in the knowledge that he will not cost Labour the seat. There is a slight swing to National but it is not sufficient to get Mr Powell elected. Mr Benson-Pope can stand safe in the knowledge that he will not cost Labour the seat. There is a slight swing to National but it is not sufficient to get Mr Powell elected. Mr Benson-Pope can stand safe in the knowledge that he will not cost Labour the seat. There is a slight swing to National but it is not sufficient to get Mr Powell elected. Mr Benson-Pope can stand safe in the knowledge that he will not cost Labour the seat. There is a slight swing to National but it is not sufficient to get Mr Powell elected. Mr Benson-Pope can stand safe in the knowledge that he will not cost Labour the seat. There is a slight swing to National but it is not sufficient to get Mr Powell elected. Mr Benson-Pope can stand safe in the knowledge that he will not cost Labour the seat.
Now, if we all keep saying it, then maybe he will stand; it would be worth it for the fun alone, although unfortunately although there is a slight swing to National it is not sufficient to get Mr Powell elected. Mr Benson-Pope can stand safe in the knowledge that he will not cost Labour the seat.
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 9:19 am
So a split in the Labour vote would have to matched by a reasonable increase in votes for Powell.
Remember to factor in the nations growing discontent with the Labour Government – not everyone who voted for DBP for the MP was a hardcore Labour supporter, quite a few will be swing voters who may be so turned off Labour that they will not even vote for any of the Labour candidates.
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 9:30 am
I think people are dreaming if they think that National could ever hope to win Dunedin South – have you been there? It’s part of the 30% that always vote Labour, in the same way that the electorate that put that clown Connell into Parliament always votes national.
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Of course, under the Electoral Finance Act, he’ll need written permission from Mike Smith before campaigning in such a way…
[DPF: Heh great point]
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Try from the horses mouth and get the story from the brand spanking new ODT web site.
Yeti, I agree. Has anyone ever walked down the streets of South Dunners, one hell of a depressing place and there is no way a git in a black suit representing the bean counters and international traders will ever get a look in. They might get a DB poured over their heads though. As for the intelligentsia that lives on the peninsula, well we’re all communists and lesbians, so again who will vote for the suite.
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 9:41 am
and graeme, that would involve an email, hmm really hard work.
Free speech is so hard to moderate. Still I could see some coalition somewhere taking this to court and arguing that he isn’t third party or human or something equally ridiculous.
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Paul – my point was that he might not get that permission.
If that permission is granted then half of the cost of the advertising (that advertising which says vote me and vote Labour) will count as a Labour Party election expense. Labour might not want that. Labour *probably* won’t want that.
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 9:48 am
“Benson-Pope winning the seat could be beneficial to Labour as he would vote with them, and him winning the seat might gave them an extra List MP.”
Is that correct?
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Well if Labour get 33.3% of the effective vote and are entitled to 40 MPs due to their party vote, and they win 20 seats they have 20 electorate and 20 list MPs.
Now let us say they lose Dunedin South to Benson-Pope. If Labour still is entitled to 40 MPs, then they have 19 electorate MPs and 21 List MPs. Add on Benson-Pope and that is 41.
However it is slightly more complicated than that. If he stands as an Independent then parties are allocated only 119 MPs. This would mean it is possible Labour would be entitled to only 39 MPs, so then Labour 39 + DBP = 40 so no gain. On the other hand it may be National that gets one less MP (depends who was in place 120) so then Labour + DPB = 41 and National is down one.
If DBP sets up a party called Independent Labour and contests the party vote also, then if he wins his seat it is an overhang and there wil be 121 MPs, so that will still favour Labour if he votes with them.
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Would DBP be deemed to have resigned (or be expelled from the Labour party) for standing as an independent. I vaguely recall that Labour (unlike National) has such a rule.
In any case if he stood as an independent this time then sought a Labour nomination in 2011, this would be similar to the Roger Payne business, although it would depend at what point of the process he was ruled out.
In hindsight, pehaps National and Roger could have asked the judge to let him be a sixth shortlisted candidate to have enabled the meeting to be held when intended, then allowed him to hang himself at the selection meeting.
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I smell a split the size of the grand canyon in Dunedin Labour, wonder if it stretches to floor 9 at the beehive, yes it does – thanks Phil.
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
A choice between Curran and Benson Pope?! Those poor sods are caught between the devil and… well, another devil, really.
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Could one of you knowledgable bloggers please advise us.
I think that a parliamentarian who is beaten in an election gets a higher superannuation payout than a parliamentarian who resigns his seat.
[DPF: They don't get more super but I think they do get three months salary past the election if they are defeated.]
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Yes, but if the voters there are as Pavlovian as you suggest then might not the name “Benson-Pope” on the ballot paper trigger a near automatic response for a good proportion of them?
Especially if he aligns himself with Labour for the list vote. (Or uses red billboards, etc.)
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Let us consider Buridan’s Ass: an ass placed exactly in the middle between two stacks of hay of equal size and quality, will starve to death since it cannot make any rational decision to start eating one rather than the other.
Twelve months after the election, we may find the skeletal remains of undecided, historical Labour voters, marker pens still gripped in bony claws, standing rigid in the Dunedin South polling booths…
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Actually I’ve heard that DBP loves a party of three and prefers that he’s the only human
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
No. They’re paid the same whether they run again or not (which is to say all MPs who cease to be MPs at an election get three months’ salary following the election).
Section 18(3) of the Civil List Act 1979:
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Colonel Masters says:
Buridan? I didn’t see his name on the Southern Kinks membership list… and I have quite enough difficulty reading this thread and trying to avoid considering Benson-Pope’s ass, thank you.
For some reason the juxtaposition of the word “pen” and a thread on DB-P brings to mind a classic Saturday Night Live sketch which set out to satirise the “Celebrity Jeopardy”. One of the characters was Sean Connery (or rather an actor playing him) who, when offered a choice of topics, insisted on reading “The Pen is Mightier” as “The Penis Mightier” and speculating that it was an organ enlargement device of some sort.
Vote:May 29th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Good on him trying to use the MMP system. Sure we don’t want more MPs voting with Labour, but it is a great idea for him personally. The more people realise they can split their vote, the better the election results will be.
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