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Labour's candidate to contest the Selwyn seat in the November General Election has pulled out of the race and been replaced by a Christchurch community board chair.
Nick Moody has withdrawn as a candidate to focus on his role as an Environment Canterbury regional councillor.
He will be replaced by Ara Institute of Canterbury lecturer and Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central Community Board member, Dr Sunita Gautam.
Gautam says she was a “unionist’s daughter” and was raised to value collective responsibility and stand up for others.
She is the community board chairperson, a Justice of the Peace and a marriage and civil union celebrant.
“I know what it means to build a life through hard work, opportunity and the support of a community. Selwyn is a diverse and growing electorate with incredible people, and I look forward to listening, connecting and working alongside residents,” Gautam said.
She will contest the Selwyn seat against current National MP Nicola Grigg, independent candidate Zoran Rakovic, and Alliance Party candidate Jesse Luke.
Moody was elected to ECan in October last year as a Christchurch South regional councillor. He was then named as Labour’s Selwyn candidate in early May. If Moody had resigned from ECan, it could have triggered a by-election.
After being named as Labour’s Selwyn candidate, he told the NZ Herald he was “ready to campaign alongside the strong Labour team” and would be “pushing for pay equity for all sectors”.
“I’ve been dismayed by the current Government’s approach to workers’ pay and safety. As a PSA union delegate, I led industrial action at Environment Canterbury and helped secure their Living Wage accreditation,” Moody told the Herald.
He is the second candidate to pull out of the upcoming General Election after NZ First candidate and former Labour MP, Stuart Nash, stood down last week.
Nash quit after he sparked outrage among MPs when he accused his Napier opponent, Katie Nimon, of being “lazy” for taking maternity leave.
The comment was roundly condemned across the political spectrum as sexist and misogynistic, and he resigned last Wednesday night.
The 2026 General Election will be held on Saturday, November 7, 2026.
-Allied Media