Jamie Arbuckle not fifth on NZ First list. His picture is just fifth down

Jamie Arbuckle MP? Hold your horses.

Two polls this month showed New Zealand First above the 5% threshold required to enter Parliament. If matched on election day, it could deliver the party six or seven MPs.

Marlborough District councillor and NZ First Kaikōura candidate Arbuckle looks to be sitting at number five on the party list, but looks can be deceiving.

Arbuckle told the Express last week it just so happened his picture was the fifth one down on the NZ First ‘Our Candidates’ web page.

“New Zealand First is pleased to announce our 2023 suite of candidates,” it says, above pictures of Winston Peters, Shane Jones, Anne Degia-Pala, Mahesh Bindra, Jamie Arbuckle, and the rest.

Arbuckle said a couple of people had contacted him since the polls came out this month thinking he was fifth on the party list. But the list wouldn’t be finalised until mid-September, he said. Peters previously told Stuff the list would be revealed on September 14.

Arbuckle, who had stood for the party twice before, in 2017 and 2020, said he had been “working really hard in the background” for the past two years and was hopeful of a “front bench” position.

The fifth-term councillor, who had three tilts at the mayoralty in Marlborough, said he had been on a long political journey, conceding he was “probably a bit young” when he first ran for mayor. He was made chair of the council’s economic, finance and community committee this term.

Arbuckle was confirmed as the Kaikōura candidate at a public meeting with NZ First leader Winston Peters in Blenheim in May.

The NZ First website said Arbuckle’s “extensive knowledge of local government matters and the Resource Management Act will add critical experience to the New Zealand First team”.

NZ First was aiming for a comeback at the 2023 election on October 14, after being voted out of both Government and Parliament in an election that granted Labour an absolute majority in 2020.

National MP Stuart Smith was sitting at 56 on his party’s list, but said he expected to win his seat.

“And that is what I will be working hard to do, so that I can continue to be the strong voice for the people of the Kaikōura electorate,” he said.

First-time candidate Emma Dewhirst was 67 on the Labour Party list. Keith Griffiths was number 30 on the Act Party list.

On the Green Party website, Marlborough District Council solid waste manager Alec McNeil was still at 26, but he was no longer running. He had been replaced by Richard McCubbin.

A Marlborough District Council spokesperson said there was no requirement under legislation for Arbuckle to resign from the council should he get into Parliament.

“He can hold both offices but the workload and requirements of Parliament could impinge on his council duties, and vice versa.”

A by-election would be held if Arbuckle decided to resign from council, unless there was less than a year until the next local government election.