Andrew Little and Grant Robertson are believed to be the frontrunners The new Labour leader will be announced this afternoon. Gay Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson is believed to be neck-in-neck with fellow contender Andrew Little, according to political commentators. Nanaia Mahuta and David Parker are the other two contenders. All four were with the majority of Labour MPs who voted for marriage equality. The leadership vote closes at midday, after which the results will be available. Robertson is considered to be a favourite within the Labour caucus, which holds 40 per cent of the vote. Labour Party members account for another 40 per cent, and unions 20 per cent. While Robertson’s sexuality was the subject of some debate in the vein of ‘is New Zealand ready for a gay prime minister’ when he first announced he would run for the leadership, this died down. In a Research New Zealand poll released last week, 77 per cent of those surveyed said a party leader being gay would make ‘no difference’ to their party vote.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 18th November 2014 - 7:30am