National quietly released its party list this morning. The first impression? wall-to-wall dead white males. There are no women in the top 5, only 2 in the top 10, and around 25% overall. As for Maori, they squeeze only one in in the top 20. Oh there's more further down - and some Pasifica, Indian and "asian" candidates too - but they're very much at the back of the bus. This is National's New Zealand: run by and for rich white people, with everyone else barely getting a look in.
Here's the usual table:
| 2011 Rank | Name | 2008 Rank | Difference |
| 1 | John Key | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Bill English | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Lockwood Smith | 12 | +9 |
| 4 | Gerry Brownlee | 3 | -1 |
| 5 | Tony Ryall | 6 | +1 |
| 6 | Nick Smith | 5 | -1 |
| 7 | Judith Collins | 7 | 0 |
| 8 | Anne Tolley | 10 | +2 |
| 9 | Chris Finlayson | 14 | +5 |
| 10 | David Carter | 9 | -1 |
| 11 | Murray McCully | 11 | 0 |
| 12 | Tim Groser | 15 | +3 |
| 13 | Steven Joyce | 16 | +3 |
| 14 | Paula Bennett | 41 | +27 |
| 15 | Phil Heatley | 22 | +7 |
| 16 | Jonathan Coleman | 29 | +13 |
| 17 | Kate Wilkinson | 30 | +13 |
| 18 | Hekia Parata | 36 | +18 |
| 19 | Maurice Williamson | 8 | -11 |
| 20 | Nathan Guy | 18 | -2 |
| 21 | Craig Foss | 33 | +12 |
| 22 | Chris Tremain | 31 | +9 |
| 23 | Jo Goodhew | 39 | +16 |
| 24 | Lindsay Tisch | 19 | -5 |
| 25 | Eric Roy | 28 | +3 |
| 26 | Paul Hutchison | 23 | -3 |
| 27 | Shane Ardern | 24 | -3 |
| 28 | Amy Adams | 52 | +24 |
| 29 | Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga | 35 | +6 |
| 30 | Simon Bridges | 51 | +21 |
| 31 | Michael Woodhouse | 49 | +18 |
| 32 | Chester Borrows | 32 | 0 |
| 33 | Nikki Kaye | 57 | +24 |
| 34 | Melissa Lee | 37 | +3 |
| 35 | Kanwaljit Bakshi | 38 | +3 |
| 36 | Jian Yang | -- | -- |
| 37 | Alfred Ngaro | -- | -- |
| 38 | Katrina Shanks | 46 | +8 |
| 39 | Paul Goldsmith | -- | -- |
| 40 | Tau Henare | 26 | -14 |
| 41 | Jacqui Dean | 40 | -1 |
| 42 | Nicky Wagner | 43 | +1 |
| 43 | Chris Auchinvole | 42 | -1 |
| 44 | Louise Upston | 53 | +9 |
| 45 | Jonathan Young | 66 | +21 |
| 46 | Jackie Blue | 45 | -1 |
| 47 | Todd McClay | 54 | +7 |
| 48 | Alan Peachey | 34 | -14 |
| 49 | David Bennett | 44 | -5 |
| 50 | Tim Macindoe | 55 | +5 |
| 51 | Cam Calder | 58 | +7 |
| 52 | John Hayes | 50 | -2 |
| 53 | Colin King | 47 | -6 |
| 54 | Aaron Gilmore | 56 | +2 |
| 55 | Jami-Lee Ross | -- | -- |
| 56 | Paul Quinn | 48 | -8 |
| 57 | Paul Foster-Bell | -- | -- |
| 58 | Maggie Barry | -- | -- |
| 59 | Ian McKelvie | -- | -- |
| 60 | Mark Mitchell | -- | -- |
| 61 | Mike Sabin | -- | -- |
| 62 | Scott Simpson | -- | -- |
| 63 | Claudette Hauiti | -- | -- |
| 64 | Joanne Hayes | -- | -- |
| 65 | Leonie Hapeta | -- | -- |
| 66 | Sam Collins | -- | -- |
| 67 | Jonathan Fletcher | -- | -- |
| 68 | Heather Tanner | -- | -- |
| 69 | Denise Krum | -- | -- |
| 70 | Carolyn O'Fallon | -- | -- |
| 71 | Viv Gurrey | -- | -- |
| 72 | Karen Rolleston | -- | -- |
| 73 | Brett Hudson | -- | -- |
| 74 | Linda Cooper | -- | -- |
| 75 | Karl Varley | -- | -- |
The good news is that there's no Steven Franks. The bad news is that on current polling, an awful lot of these people are likely to be elected.
Update: The Hand Mirror has crunched the numbers, and it looks like National will have fewer women after the election than they do now. Like I said, by rich white men, for rich white men...
