How do you vet a political candidate?

Friday, 12 July 2024

The Green Party is reviewing its candidate selection process as co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick admits the Darleen Tana saga prompted questions over whether it should be tightened.

Documents show the party’s process involves some initiative from its selection body as to how closely it scrutinises any one candidate.

The party has requested Tana’s resignation from Parliament, after an investigation concluded Tana likely knew about migrant exploitation allegations against her husband’s business.

Swarbrick blamed Tana for not being forthcoming. Tana disputes the findings, which haven’t been publicly released.

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The Green Party’s 34 page document outlining how it picks its candidates, and its procedures, shows the aspiring candidate needs to be nominated by five Green Party members who must be prepared to act as referees.

The applicant needs to fill out a declaration and submit their CV.

A committee then decides whether a candidate is admitted to the general pool, and the Greens’ network of Māori members, Te Rōpū Pounamu, decide on those candidates who intend to run in a Māori electorate.

The groups must determine “that each candidate has the necessary skills, attributes, knowledge and experience to make a positive contribution to the Green Party campaign, as well as ensuring there are no negative factors that would exclude a potential candidate from the Candidate Pool”.

The candidates are interviewed, there can be follow ups on suitability, and feedback is sought from the nominators, branch, provinces, and networks.

The document suggests the committee and Te Rōpū Pounamu have discretion as to how much scrutiny each candidate comes under. [They] “have at their discretion the ability to modify the level of scrutiny applied to any applicant, and the ability to consider any information that it deems relevant”.

The party does not carry out police checks, but prospective candidates are asked to disclose criminal offences, convictions and civil law litigation.

Tana stood for the Greens in 2020, running in Northland. In the last election, she stood for Tāmaki Makaurau - a Māori electorate seat that co-leader Marama Davidson previously ran in.

When Davidson announced she would not run in the electorate last April, she confirmed Tana would be the candidate.

'We are super stoked and humbled to have her standing in Tāmaki Makaurau,“ Davidson said at the time.

A statement attributed to a Green Party spokesperson said the party reviews and updates its candidate selection and list ranking procedures before each election.

“That process is under way and will involve significant consultation with our membership. We expect to have the process complete in time for allowing candidate applications in the year before the next general election.”

The last election period dragged up multiple candidate issues for parties.

Green Party Maungakiekie candidate Sapna Samant tweeted before the election that “white people are stupid” and “can be fooled easily” and called then Labour Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan, “….ing useless” and an “incompetent” minister.

ACT candidate Simon Angelo liked homophobic social media posts and a meme which mocked Chlöe Swarbrick’s mental health struggles. The party’s Rangitata candidate, Elaine Naidu Franz, resigned in August after it emerged she compared Covid mandates to concentration camps. Anto Coates – who was number 33 on the party list – stepped down in July “for personal reasons” after comments about Covid and former PM Jacinda Ardern.

National candidate Stephen Jack resigned after coming under fire for sharing a sexist joke about young women and an offensive poem that compared former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to Adolf Hitler.

Parties have different oversight and styles in how they select candidates.

Labour candidates provide general information about themselves from the outset, such as their social media details. The selection then goes to representatives from local electorate bodies and from the wider party, with presentations required and questioning from the panel. Candidates are asked to disclose any information that the party needs to be across, which is then is handled on a case-by-case basis.

ACT does police checks and tries to do thorough searches of potential candidates’ social media to ensure the content is consistent with ACT values. The applicants go through a ‘candidate school’, sign up to the code of conduct and are also asked to disclose any information during the application process. Decisions on the list and the decision on ranking are up to the board.

The National Party Board can undertake an investigation into any potential National candidate who is nominated. A pre-selection committee is launched to conduct in-depth interviews and reference checks, and to weed out those “considered unsuitable to be National Members of Parliament”.

The nominees need to “comply strictly with the rules for selection concerning provision of full and truthful information about themselves”.