Winston Peters has announced his candidacy in the Northland By-election on March 28th.
Born and raised in the electorate, the NZ First Leader and former Tauranga MP says that he has had a long-held concern for Northland’s ‘forgotten people’ and ‘overlooked economies’.
“The electorate suggests that it has been marginalised and cinderellarised, along with many other provinces in New Zealand,” says Mr Peters.
“None of this is the fault of Northlanders, but in what has been aptly described by many economists as New Zealand’s two-tier economy, Northland has been relegated at the bottom of the second tier.”
The The party which advocates for stricter immigration and social welfare reform is calling on Northlanders to “put Northland first”.
“Northland needs a real voice that is able to hit the ground running and ensure that for the coming years no one will ignore what Northland thinks and wants,” says Mr Peters.
He joins Labour candidate Willow-Jean Prime in the race for the seat vacated by former National MP Mike Sabin, who resigned earlier this year after allegations he was under police investigation.
The Māori and Green parties have already declared that they won’t be standing a candidate in the race.
Nominations close on March 3rd.