National Party announces election list, minus Michael Woodhouse
The National Party has announced its election year list, which shows who the party wants to bring into Parliament.
Missing from the list is Michael Woodhouse, a long-serving National Party MP who made a last-minute request to withdraw from the list.
National leader Christopher Luxon said Woodhouse would stand for election in Dunedin, but that’s a seat he is unlikely to win.
Woodhouse is currently a List MP for National, and returned to Parliament in 2020 with a high ranking – 12th on Judith Collins’ list.
During a Saturday afternoon call, Luxon said Woodhouse told him he didn’t want to be on the list anymore, thus effectively announcing his retirement.
“He made it very clear to me, he wanted to withdraw from the list,” Luxon said during a news conference.
Luxon wouldn’t say what Woodhouse had been ranked as, before he asked to be taken off the list.
Woodhouse confirmed he asked not to be included on the list, after being offered a ranking he wasn’t happy with.
Luxon wouldn’t say where on the party list Woodhouse had been ranked, but Woodhouse confirmed he asked to be taken off the list after being offered a ranking he wasn’t happy with.
“It was clear from the ranking offered that I was not part of the leadership’s thinking regarding ministerial positions, so I feel the best thing to do is to stand aside and allow a fresher face into the caucus,” he said in a statement.
Woodhouse acknowledged that by refusing a list ranking, he had effectively retired from Parliament.
“I do so somewhat sad about the process of my departure from political life but overwhelmingly grateful,” the MP of 15 years said.
Luxon and party president Sylvia Wood announced the party’s 74-person ranking on Saturday, which also brought other changes to the current National Party lineup.
A few new faces have leapfrogged ahead of sitting National MPs. These include MPs ranked 20th to 23rd, Nancy Lu, Suze Redmayne, Katie Nimon and Catherine Wedd. They sit just ahead of sitting MPs Tama Potaka, Maureen Pugh and Harete Hipango. Of these three, only Potaka holds an electorate.
There were also big drops for a few sitting MPs.
This group includes MPs with winnable electorates, such as Southland MP Joseph Mooney, Tāmaki MP Simon O’Connor, Coromandel MP Scott Simpson, Kaikōura MP Stuart Smith, Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell and Waikato MP Tim van de Molen.
National is the last major party to release its list. The Labour, ACT and Green parties had all confirmed their lists earlier.
This is National’s full list going into election 2023:
- Christopher Luxon – Botany
- Nicola Willis – Ōhāriu
- Chris Bishop – Hutt South
- Shane Reti – Whangārei
- Paul Goldsmith – Epsom
- Louise Upston – Taupō
- Erica Stanford – East Coast Bays
- Matt Doocey – Waimakariri
- Simeon Brown – Pakuranga
- Judith Collins – Papakura
- Mark Mitchell – Whangaparāoa
- Todd McClay – Rotorua
- Melissa Lee – Mt Albert
- Gerry Brownlee – List
- Andrew Bayly – Port Waikato
- Penny Simmonds – Invercargill
- Simon Watts – North Shore
- Chris Penk – Kaipara ki Mahurangi
- Nicola Grigg – Selwyn
- Nancy Lu – List
- Suze Redmayne – Rangitīkei
- Katie Nimon – Napier
- Catherine Wedd – Tukituki
- Tama Potaka – Hamilton West
- Agnes Loheni – List
- Maureen Pugh – West Coast-Tasman
- Emma Chatterton – Remutaka
- James Christmas – List
- Dale Stephens – Christchurch Central
- Siva Kilari – Manurewa
- Harete Hipango – Te Tai Hauāuru
- Rosemary Bourke – Māngere
- Frances Hughes – Mana
- Paulo Garcia – New Lynn
- Blair Cameron – Nelson
- Barbara Kuriger – Taranaki-King Country
- Tracy Summerfield – Wigram
- Hinurewa te Hau – Tāmaki Makaurau
- Angee Nicholas – Te Atatū
- Vanessa Weenink – Banks Peninsula
- Rima Nakhle – Takanini
- Ruby Schaumkel – Kelston
- Mahesh Muralidhar – Auckland Central
- Dana Kirkpatrick – East Coast
- Scott Sheeran – Wellington Central
- Navtej Singh Randhawa – Panmure-Ōtāhuhu
- Carl Bates – Whanganui
- Carlos Cheung – Mt Roskill
- Matthew French – Taieri
- Matt Stock – Christchurch East
- Karunā Muthu – Rongotai
- Ankit Bansal – Palmerston North
- Joseph Mooney – Southland
- Simon O’Connor – Tāmaki
- Scott Simpson – Coromandel
- Stuart Smith – Kaikōura
- Sam Uffindell – Tauranga
- Tim van de Molen – Waikato
- Miles Anderson – Waitaki
- Dan Bidois – Northcote
- Mike Butterick – Wairarapa
- Cameron Brewer – Upper Harbour
- Hamish Campbell – Ilam
- Tim Costley – Ōtaki
- Greg Fleming – Maungakiekie
- Ryan Hamilton – Hamilton East
- David MacLeod – New Plymouth
- Grant McCallum – Northland
- James Meager – Rangitata
- Tom Rutherford – Bay of Plenty
- Felicity Foy – List
- Janelle Hocking – List
- Kesh Naidoo-Rauf – List
- Senthuran Arulanantham – List
With Thanks Reference to: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132776437/national-party-announces-election-list-minus-michael-woodhouse
