Praneeta Mahajan
Hamilton, 2 November 2022
Georgie Dansey
Georgie Dansey, a union boss, business owner, former teacher, and mother, will contest the Hamilton West by-election for the Labour Party.
Labour President Claire Szabó said that Dansey, the Chief Executive of the Independent Schools Education Association and a small business owner – was a strong candidate for the electorate.
Ms Szabó said, “Georgie’s years of experience representing education workers and running her own business makes her ideally suited to advocate for Hamiltonians inside Government and ensure workers and business voices are represented. She brings a great perspective and represents Labour’s values of fairness and opportunity in this by-election.”
Ms Dansey said that the people of Hamilton West deserved a progressive voice inside government. “In this by-election I want the focus to be on accelerating progress for our community. No one has benefited from the recent drama with the outgoing MP. It is time to move on and get back to focusing on the real issues Hamiltonians face, and I am committed to working for Hamilton West on the issues that matter to them” she said.
Ms Dansey, a Ngāti Tūwharetoa descendent, said that she is looking forward to the campaign. She is the Chief Executive of the Independent Schools Education Association and owns Te Awamutu business Body Fit Training. The former teacher was ranked 84 on the party’s list of candidates at the 2020 election.
The National Party also announced three nominees for the by-election: Rachel Afeaki-Taumoepeau, Frances Hughes, and Tama Potaka. The Opportunities Party has submitted Naomi Pocock as its candidate.
Last week, through a Facebook post, National Party’s favourite candidate for Hamilton West, Tim Macindoe said that he has received “a large number of messages and phone calls” from people encouraging him to stand for the December 10 by-election.
He said “I am deeply grateful for that support, especially as many also offered to help our local team with what will be a demanding campaign at such a busy time of the year and to contribute towards the cost of running it. However, I am not submitting an application to be considered. Both from a family and a professional perspective, it would have been very difficult for me to contest a by-election at this time and the candidate must be able to guarantee 100% effort from the day he/she is chosen.”
Macindoe explained that since losing the seat in 2020 he has been spending more time with family, playing golf and Bridge, becoming a registered celebrant, and begun working part-time with Waikato community foundation Momentum.
The by-election has been forced by the resignation of independent MP Dr Gaurav Sharma, who will also contest the election. He was a Labour MP until he was kicked out of the caucus in August when he made claims of bullying within the Labour party, accused Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of a cover-up and shared secret recordings of colleagues.
The Hamilton West by-election will take place on 10 December 2022.
Praneeta Mahajan is an Indian Newslink Reporter based in Hamilton.
