The Labour Party released its party list today. Unlike last election, where they ranked new blood higher than some established MPs to renew their party (and so gained a significant influx of talent), this time they've focused squarely on incumbent protection, with only 3 new MPs in the almost guaranteed to get into Parliament top-30. Which means that if they want to bring new people in, they have to up their party vote.
As with last election, I've done a table showing the top candidates relative placements with last time. The big winners are those who have won a frontbench position in the past term - David Parker, Clayton Cosgrove, Charles Chauvel and Grant Robertson. The losers are Phil Twyford and Rajen Prasad, who get demoted even though retirements have opened up space for everyone to move up. I wonder what they did to offend Phil Goff...?
| 2011 Rank | Name | 2008 Rank | Difference |
| 1 | Phil Goff | 3 | +2 |
| 2 | Annette King | 4 | +2 |
| 3 | David Cunliffe | 8 | +5 |
| 4 | David Parker | 17 | +13 |
| 5 | Ruth Dyson | 13 | +8 |
| 6 | Parekura Horomia | 5 | -1 |
| 7 | Maryan Street | 9 | +2 |
| 8 | Clayton Cosgrove | 18 | +10 |
| 9 | Trevor Mallard | 14 | +5 |
| 10 | Sue Moroney | 22 | +12 |
| 11 | Charles Chauvel | 27 | +16 |
| 12 | Nanaia Mahuta | 10 | -2 |
| 13 | Jacinda Ardern | 20 | +7 |
| 14 | Grant Robertson | 46 | +32 |
| 15 | Andrew Little | -- | -- |
| 16 | Shane Jones | 16 | 0 |
| 17 | Su’a William Sio | 24 | +7 |
| 18 | Darien Fenton | 33 | +15 |
| 19 | Moana Mackey | 25 | +6 |
| 20 | Rajen Prasad | 12 | -8 |
| 21 | Raymond Huo | 21 | 0 |
| 22 | Carol Beaumont | 28 | +6 |
| 23 | Kelvin Davis | 29 | +6 |
| 24 | Carmel Sepuloni | 35 | +11 |
| 25 | Rick Barker | 34 | +9 |
| 26 | Deborah Mahuta-Coyle | -- | -- |
| 27 | Stuart Nash | 36 | +9 |
| 28 | Clare Curran | 45 | +17 |
| 29 | Brendon Burns | 49 | +20 |
| 30 | Chris Hipkins | 47 | +17 |
| 31 | David Shearer | -- | -- |
| 32 | Michael Wood | 56 | +24 |
| 33 | Phil Twyford | 26 | -7 |
| 34 | Stephanie (Steve) Chadwick | 30 | -4 |
| 35 | Kate Sutton | 63 | +27 |
| 36 | Jerome Mika | -- | -- |
| 37 | Iain Lees-Galloway | 48 | +11 |
| 38 | Josie Pagani | -- | -- |
| 39 | Lynette Stewart | -- | -- |
| 40 | Jordan Carter | 70 | +30 |
| 41 | Kris Faafoi | -- | -- |
| 42 | Christine Rose | -- | -- |
| 43 | Glenda Alexander | -- | -- |
| 44 | Susan Zhu | -- | -- |
| 45 | Rino Tirikatene | -- | -- |
| 46 | Sehai Orgad | -- | -- |
| 47 | Megan Woods | -- | -- |
| 48 | Mea’ole Keil | -- | -- |
| 49 | David Clark | -- | -- |
| 50 | Richard Hills | -- | -- |
| 51 | Anahila Suisuiki | -- | -- |
| 52 | Hamish McDouall | 60 | +8 |
| 53 | Louis Te Kani | -- | -- |
| 54 | Tat Loo | -- | -- |
| 55 | Soraya Peke-Mason | -- | -- |
| 56 | Julian Blanchard | 59 | +4 |
| 57 | Peter Foster | -- | -- |
| 58 | Pat Newman | -- | -- |
| 59 | Julia Haydon-Carr | -- | -- |
| 60 | Michael Bott | -- | -- |
| 61 | Vivienne Goldsmith | 67 | +6 |
| 62 | Nick Bakulich | -- | -- |
| 63 | Chris Yoo | 53 | -10 |
| 64 | Barry Monks | -- | -- |
| 65 | Hugh Kininmonth | 75 | +10 |
| 66 | Jo Kim | -- | -- |
| 67 | Paula Gillon | -- | -- |
| 68 | Carol Devoy-Heena | 76 | +8 |
| 69 | Ben Clark | -- | -- |
| 70 | Chao-Fu Wu | -- | -- |
Also notable for minor demotion are Parekura Horomia and Nanaia Mahuta. neither have really been performers this term (Horomia because of incompetence, Mahuta because she's taken time off for family reasons), but they are Labour's most high-profile Maori MPs, and their demotion sends a message about what the party cares about ATM. And the answer seems to be "not Maori".
