The National Party Presidency
July 17th, 2009 at 10:30 am by David FarrarAt the end of the month, National will elect a new President – indirectly. With Judy Kirk retiring this is the first vacancy under the new rules, where the members elect seven Directors to the National Board, and the Directors (including the Leader and a Caucus Rep) elect one of their own as President.
This has made predicting who will win much harder, as you have to get elected to the Board first, before you even get a chance to convince your peers to make you President. And to make it harder, many of the Board nominees are of sufficient calibre to be a viable President.
Two of the seven elected Directors are part way through their term, so are guaranteed to stay on the Board. They are Roger Bridge, the Canterbury-Westland Chair, and Peter Goodfellow from Auckland – a long time party activist. Both Bridge and Goodfellow are potential Presidents, regardless of formal declarations. They would serve if asked/elected.
Leader John Key and Chief Whip Nathan Guy also get a vote. Presuming they vote as a bloc, they will be influential. Key, Guy and whomever becomes President makes three votes out of nine. They only need two more.
Incumbent Director Scott Simpson is standing again. A former Auckland Regional Chairman, he is also a Presidental candidate. Fellow incumbent Grant McCallum from Northland is also standing again and as far as I know not seeking the Presidency.
According to Whale Oil (I have not had time to check directly with HQ), there are six other canddate for the Board. They are:
- Alastair Bell, current Northern Regional Chair
- Dennis Catchpole from the CNI Region
- Sir Harawira (Wira) Gardiner, former Maori Vice-President
- Kate Hazlett, Southern Region Chair from Southland
- Bruce Mills, Rangitikei Electorate Chair and long-time LNI Regional presence
- Pat Seymour, East Coast Electorate Chair for many years
Of the six non incumbents, only Wira Gardiner is also a Presidential candidate Alastair is a potential candidate also but I think isn’t seeking it at this stage.
Whale Oil makes his preferences quite clear, not being a Wira fan.
However Matthew Hooton in the NBR this morning wrote:
All candidates have been thoroughly vetted, with Mr Key’s preference said to be party stalwart Wira Gardiner. Mr Key judges, correctly, that Mr Gardiner – a businessman, former senior public servant, soldier and Mr Fixit for both National and Labour governments – has the administrative backbone to prepare National to take the fight to Labour. Moreover, Mr Key sees Mr Gardiner as important to securing a third term, given the Maori Party will hold the balance of power in 2014, if not 2011.
I’m not sure whether or not Matthew is correct as to John Key’s preference. I suspect John is keeping his opinion fairly tight as he has to work with whomever gets elected.
I know reasonably well all the Board candidates (except Dennis Catchpole) and have warm friendships with many of them. I think National is fortunate to have a good range of talent to choose from.
I won’t be blogging my preferences, as I’m not a voting delegate. But also because I designed the voting software they use to count the vote, so it is generally inadvisable for me to enter the fray in case anyone suspects I have a secret sub-routine in there that will favour my preferred canddiates 
Related posts:
- Goodfellow elected President
- President Sir Wira Gardiner?
- National Conference wrapup
- Public show of support for Goodfellow
July 17th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Assume it will be Chris Tremain instead of Guy since he was promoted?
[DPF: Not necessarily. The Caucus rep is elected in a personal capacity - does not have to be Chief Whip]
Vote:July 17th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Given Neville Keys capitulation to the apartheid party does anybody really think it is going to be anyone other than Wira Gardiner ?
Vote:July 17th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
big bruv … well he has to be elected first but that aside. Wira and I go back a long way and there is no doubt in my mind he has the governance skills needed to do the job.
But then so do others and Wira’s problem is (1) he will be the new kid on the block and (2) he will need to convince his peers that having a wife in Parliament doesn’t present a potential conflict of interest given the creative tension that sometimes exists between the Parliamentary and Organisational wings.
Gunna be interesting.
Vote:July 17th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
“” I think National is fortunate to have a good range of talent to choose from”".
Its a pitty they don’t have the same range of talent in MPs.
Vote:July 17th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
…Oh came on Kat Wilkinson for a start…
Vote:July 17th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
is that how top-down democracy works..?
..it must be very dis-empowering for the party rabble..
..knowing how ineffectual/impotent they actually are..
..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Vote:July 17th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
“..# RKBee (98) Vote: Add rating 1 Subtract rating 0 Says:
July 17th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
…Oh came on Kat Wilkinson for a start…”
did you..?
(sorry r.k..i couldn’t resist..eh..?..
..you know how it is..eh..?..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Vote:July 17th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Sorry DPF does not allow me to talk about National MPs I don’t like… on this post..
Vote:Its about The National Party Presidency..
July 17th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
philu … you talk crap. We elect the Board. Far better than an imposed regime favoured by some political parties where pc prevails. Remid me, how do the Greens elect their President. Oh that’s right, you don’t have one. You prefer to be run by MPs subject of course to gender balance and bugger the talent bit.
And just who keeps the MPs honest in your Party7
Vote:July 17th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
DPF:
“But also because I designed the voting software they use to count the vote”
What is the electoral system used for the vote?
[DPF: Preferential voting. Basically instant run-off but a multiple vacancy]
Vote:July 17th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
“Remid me, how do the Greens elect their President. Oh that’s right, you don’t have one. You prefer to be run by MPs subject of course to gender balance and bugger the talent bit.
And just who keeps the MPs honest in your Party7″
This of course is Completely wrong why do you make shit up Ross ?
Vote:July 17th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
But for your info here is the organisational chart
Vote:http://www.greens.org.nz/node/18321
July 17th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
i-have-no-’party’..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Vote:July 17th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
This is getting interesting!. Whaleoil has fired another broadside against Wira and lambastes former presidents (except daddy).
It must have been very demoralising for Wira to achieve minimal votes for National’s Maori seat candidates in 2002 and then have the party decide that it was not worth putting candidates into the Maori seats. Prior to MMP it was a matter of honour to have a candidate in all seats and with the Maori seats lost deposits AFAIK were reimbursed by National Office – National regularly lose two or so deposits with the then four Maori seats.
Vote:July 18th, 2009 at 1:22 am
@big bruv
You do know Wira Gardiner is a member of the National Party, not the Maori Party, right?
Him being Maori has nothing to do with anything. He isn’t running for president of the Labour party, where it might.
Vote: