Georg Ebner
Non-Aligned
Roman romantic reactionary Catholic
Posts: 9,798 
|
Post by Georg Ebner on Oct 13, 2022 23:01:23 GMT
They were held few days ago. As an ignorant foreigner i have no idea, who is who in those officially "non-partisan" fights and am hoping for inSights from uhurasmazda . In ChristChurch the candidate endorsed by Labour&Greens ended far behind at ~30%. In AuckLand the (narrow) winner was supported by a Nat.-MP. So, looks like a not so good outCome for the left? |
|
|
|
Post by groznik on Oct 15, 2022 4:01:17 GMT
They were held few days ago. As an ignorant foreigner i have no idea, who is who in those officially "non-partisan" fights and am hoping for inSights from uhurasmazda . In ChristChurch the candidate endorsed by Labour&Greens ended far behind at ~30%. In AuckLand the (narrow) winner was supported by a Nat.-MP. So, looks like a not so good outCome for the left? Georg, correct. The final results have now come through. A brief overview: the National Party and ACT do not stand formally in local elections although members and former MPs do stand as independents and have done well this year. Nick Smith (former MP and Minister) was elected Mayor of (leftish) Nelson, Tania Tapsell (candidate in 2020) Mayor of Rotorua and aged 30 already served 9 years on the Council. The Communities and Residents ticket in Auckland probably is the nearest to an organised Centre-Right grouping. Labour and Greens do stand candidates with party affiliations but tend to be limited to cities and not complete slates by any means. So in Wellington where I live Labour and Greens stood one in each ward (1-3 councillors in each). The farce came in the Mayoral election where a sitting Labour MP ran as an ‘Independent’ and came third. The winner was a Green endorsed Independent and won handsomely. Bar Wellington, not a good election for the Left (Labour/Green). Wayne Brown (Independent) won a huge victory in Auckland over the joint Labour-Green endorsed ‘Independent’ Efeso Collins a sitting Labour Councillor (who you mention above Georg but as Christchurch). I’m not entirely clear what Brown’s politics are but he stood on the basis of someone with business experience sorting out the mess and getting things done so let’s say Centre-Right. The election was weird as there were 3 Centre/Centre Right candidates (plus a wacky bar owner who at one stage was in the lead in the polls but withdrew before nominations closed) against a Left Unity candidate in a First Past the Post election, but the CR won handsomely. Auckland is big enough that there should be party political candidates - one of the CR candidates (endorsed by the Communities and Residents group) had to pull out after nominations closed owing to an unpaid bill and a split on strategy with C and R. With around 1 million voters you need the feet on the ground. Interestingly, Brown was a mayor elsewhere (Far North) for two terms and was subject of conflict of interest issues if I recall. In Christchurch a similar type of candidate won, but a much closer margin, again replacing an ex-Labour minister. In Dunedin, the Green Mayor was heavily defeated by a localist. Elsewhere, on balance, centre left affiliated Independents even incumbents tended to lose. Party labels are very unusual. I would not like to analyse swings in who control Councils because it doesn’t really work that way. There are not ruling groups and oppositions as in the UK. Every councillor tends to get a role and bar in Wellington last term overt partisanship is unusual. Personally, I voted for a Centre-Right Independent, a former Green and a declared Labour member purely on the basis that they were effective representatives. For psephologists, there is not a uniform electoral system. Some (Wellington) use STV, others (Auckland) FPP. For traditionalists, we still have domestic rates here (RVs automatically reviewed every 3 years) and a ratepayer vote which I took advantage of. |
|
|
|
Post by groznik on Oct 15, 2022 4:09:57 GMT
Also, the turnout is appalling even though it’s 100% postal. The evaporation of the Postal Service (postboxes are rare birds nowadays and a letter easily takes 5 days to arrive) has not helped. Ironically, in an attempt to boost turnout informal ‘Ballot boxes’ were placed in supermarkets and public buildings in some authorities which apparently boosted turnout.
|
|
|
|
Post by pericles on Oct 18, 2022 5:59:31 GMT
Wayne Brown is the depressingly familiar scenario of the victory of the scandal-tainted populist outsider. He's now firing council board chairs, saying he'll only work 9-3 on weekdays and he risks overestimating how strong his mandate against the rest of council's (which is what Andy Foster in Wellington did).
|
|
