The Labour Party released its party list today. Last election, they focused squarely on incumbent protection - and as a result sacrificed a lot of the new blood they'd worked so hard to bring in in 2008. This time retirements and the Mallard faction abandoning the list have given them more space to work with. What's noticeable is that the unknowns kick in at around 30 this time, rather than 40 last election; this seems to be a deliberate strategy to bring in more new blood rather than a problem with attracting talent (which is what causes it in small parties).
On the gender front, there's a slight male bias in the top 10, but its balanced across the top 20, 30, and 40 (after which I stopped counting). However, those electorate MPs who have abandoned the list swing male, so we might see Labour's efforts for a gender-balanced caucus frustrated by its FPP rump.
As with last election, I've done a table showing the top candidates relative placements with last time. I don't think there's anything particularly surprising here, and the big moves all look related to the generational and leadership shift within the caucus.
| 2014 Rank | Name | 2011 Rank | Difference |
| 1 | David Cunliffe | 3 | +2 |
| 2 | David Parker | 4 | +2 |
| 3 | Grant Robertson | 14 | +11 |
| 4 | Annette King | 2 | -2 |
| 5 | Jacinda Ardern | 13 | +8 |
| 6 | Nanaia Mahuta | 12 | +6 |
| 7 | Phil Twyford | 33 | +26 |
| 8 | Clayton Cosgrove | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | Chris Hipkins | 30 | +21 |
| 10 | Sue Moroney | 10 | 0 |
| 11 | Andrew Little | 15 | +4 |
| 12 | Louisa Wall | -- | -- |
| 13 | David Shearer | 31 | +18 |
| 14 | Su'a William Sio | 17 | +3 |
| 15 | Maryan Street | 7 | -8 |
| 16 | Phil Goff | 1 | -15 |
| 17 | Moana Mackey | 19 | +2 |
| 18 | Kelvin Davis | 23 | +5 |
| 19 | Meka Whaitiri | -- | -- |
| 20 | Megan Woods | 47 | +27 |
| 21 | Raymond Huo | 21 | 0 |
| 22 | Damien O'Connor | -- | -- |
| 23 | Priyanca Radhakrishnan | -- | -- |
| 24 | Iain Lees-Galloway | 37 | +13 |
| 25 | Rachel Jones | -- | -- |
| 26 | David Clark | 49 | +23 |
| 27 | Carol Beaumont | 22 | -5 |
| 28 | Poto Williams | -- | -- |
| 29 | Carmel Sepuloni | 24 | -5 |
| 30 | Tamati Coffey | -- | -- |
| 31 | Jenny Salesa | -- | -- |
| 32 | Liz Craig | -- | -- |
| 33 | Deborah Russell | -- | -- |
| 34 | Willow-Jean Prime | -- | -- |
| 35 | Jerome Mika | 36 | +1 |
| 36 | Tony Milne | -- | -- |
| 37 | Virginia Andersen | -- | -- |
| 38 | Claire Szabo | -- | -- |
| 39 | Michael Wood | 32 | -7 |
| 40 | Arena Williams | -- | -- |
| 41 | Hamish McDouall | 52 | +11 |
| 42 | Anjum Rahman | -- | -- |
| 43 | Sunny Kaushal | -- | -- |
| 44 | Christine Greer | -- | -- |
| 45 | Penny Gaylor | -- | -- |
| 46 | Janette Walker | -- | -- |
| 47 | Richard Hills | 50 | +3 |
| 48 | Shanan Halbert | -- | -- |
| 49 | Anahila Suisuiki | 51 | +2 |
| 50 | Clare Wilson | -- | -- |
| 51 | James Dann | -- | -- |
| 52 | Kelly Ellis | -- | -- |
| 53 | Corie Haddock | -- | -- |
| 54 | Jamie Strange | -- | -- |
| 55 | Katie Paul | -- | -- |
| 56 | Steven Gibson | -- | -- |
| 57 | Chao-Fu Wu | 70 | +13 |
| 58 | Paul Grimshaw | -- | -- |
| 59 | Tracey Dorreen | -- | -- |
| 60 | Tofik Mamedov | -- | -- |
| 61 | Hikiera Toroa | -- | -- |
| 62 | Hugh Tyler | -- | -- |
| 63 | Susan Elliot | -- | -- |
| 64 | Simon Buckingham | -- | -- |
