NZ First has lost a second Auckland candidate in three weeks
Catherine Somerville-Ryan has withdrawn as NZ First’s candidate for Pakuranga, less than four weeks before nominations close.
She was named in the party’s slate of candidates on 19 July, and told the Howick & Eastern Post on Monday she had pulled out.
She said she had not known, when she put herself forward, that a teacher standing for Parliament has to give up about five weeks’ pay.
“I’m afraid I am no longer running for election,” she said.
“Teachers must stand down without pay for around 5 weeks (plus holiday pay) and I had not been aware of this before applying for candidacy.”
She said she had “little chance of making it into parliament” and had withdrawn reluctantly.
The rule she describes is real, and it applies to every state servant who becomes a candidate, not only to teachers.
Section 52 of the Electoral Act 1993 requires them to take leave from nomination day until the first working day after polling day.
The Ministry of Education set it out for school boards in a circular on 2 June.
A candidate on that leave “cannot receive remuneration, except any annual leave or other leave entitlement they may be owed”, the circular says.
A board can also require the leave to start earlier, after talking to the employee, if the candidacy would materially affect their work or their independence.
Somerville-Ryan has since come off NZ First’s own candidates page, which still listed her a week ago.
The party has not announced her withdrawal.
It is the second Auckland candidate NZ First has lost in three weeks.
George Ngatai stood down in Papakura on 26 August, after private messages about him seeking to stand for other parties were made public.
Pakuranga is held by Simeon Brown, who won it in 2023 with a majority of 18,710 and is standing again.
Labour is standing social worker Campbell Matthews, ACT is standing Parmjeet Parmar, who contested the seat in 2023, and Opportunity is standing pharmacist Kevin Huang.
NZ First now has until noon on 8 October to find someone to stand in Pakuranga.
