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National list MP Michael Woodhouse has reportedly said that being male cost him, and many of the party’s other MPs, a high slot on National’s party list.
Long-serving MP Woodhouse was a notable omission from National’s party list when it was made public on Saturday.
Woodhouse confirmed he asked not to be included on the list, after being offered a ranking he wasn’t happy with. He will stand for election in Dunedin, but is unlikely to win the seat.
Woodhouse hasn’t said what position he was offered, but in an interview with Otago Daily Times said the number meant he probably had no better than a 45% chance of getting back into Parliament.
Asked why he was given such a low position, Woodhouse told the ODT: “Firstly, there was a contest between diversity and experience, and in my case, diversity won.”
ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff
Michael Woodhouse withdrew from National’s party list after being offered a ranking he considered unacceptable.
Elsewhere in the interview, Woodhouse said: “Frankly, there is a group of hard-working male MPs with secure seats who have been given positions in the mid-50s, which puts them at a very, very significant disadvantage.”
National wasn’t worried about those seats, because it would win them, Woodhouse said.
Woodhouse said he had received a call on Saturday from National leader Christopher Luxon, who tried unsuccessfully to change his mind about withdrawing from the list entirely.
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