Election 2023: Banks Peninsula, the most engaged electorate in the city

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

In the lead-up to the 2023 general election, The Press is profiling Canterbury’s electoral races. Here’s what you need to know about the candidates running to be Banks Peninsula’s MP. (By reporter Liz McDonald)

Formerly known as Port Hills, the electorate takes in all of Banks Peninsula and the suburbs around Lyttelton Harbour and the Port Hills, as well as Sumner to Ferrymead, Woolston, St Martins, Somerfield, and parts of Halswell and Bromley.

Physically, it is dominated by hills, valleys, harbours, and the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River.

Banks Peninsula’s percentage of voters aged 40-plus is higher than the national average.

Almost a quarter of the electorate were born overseas, and almost 10% listed themselves as Māori.

Twenty-four per cent were in rented homes, and 15% had had spent more than 15 years in the same home, making it the second most settled electorate in the country.

The electorate’s residents are already very engaged in the election. In 2020 it had a bumper turnout of 89% of enrolled voters, one of the highest in the country.

This year 98% of Banks Peninsula’s eligible votes are enrolled, more than any other Christchurch electorate, and with 56,000 voters on the general roll it has the most voters in the city.

Current MP Tracey McLellan won the seat for Labour in 2020 with 51.9% of the vote, and a healthy majority of 13,000-plus. Next came National’s Catherine Chu with 25%, who was then a Christchurch city councillor, and the Greens’ Eugenie Sage, a sitting list MP now in her final term, with 12.7%.

Labour also captured a majority of the party vote, with 50.5%.

This time around McLellan is the only repeat Banks Peninsula candidate, but she has some well-known challengers.

National’s contender is Vanessa Weenink - a first-time candidate who was previously a member of the Labour Party who campaigned for MP Duncan Webb at the last election. She has been chair of NZ Medical Association’s general practitioner council, and deputy chair of the NZMA board. Until recently she worked as a general practitioner and was previously an NZ Army medical officer in Afghanistan and East Timor.

Lan Pham will represent the Green Party for the first time, taking over from Sage. Pham is a freshwater ecologist who founded the Working Waters Trust. She was an Environment Canterbury councillor for six years and ECan’s highest ever polling candidate. She sits high on the Green Party list at number six.

ACT’s candidate is Laura Trask, who sits at number 10 on her party’s list. Trask was a pharmacist who is now an employer. She runs a family business handling emergency response planning for organisations and businesses.

Standing for the NZ First Party will be Lindsay Kerslake, who has a background in farming and business, and has held governance roles in the horse racing industry.

The remaining candidates are Doug Allington (Democracy NZ), Paran Jeet (Animal Justice Party), Lisa Mead (NewZeal), and Peter Wakeman (Independent).