No one who lives in Canterbury’s Selwyn District wants to stand for Labour. That is why the party continues to select candidates from outside of the electorate, Selwyn Labour Party chair Paul Taylor said. 

Dr Sunita Gautam has been selected as the party’s candidate for the election on November 7, after planned candidate Nick Moody dropped out. 

Gautam lives in St Albans and is also the chair of the Waipapa Papnui-Innes-Central Community Board in Christchurch. Moody lives in Somerfield and is also an Environment Canterbury councillor. 

"If you don't have any candidates nominated within Selwyn, then you have to get them from somewhere else,” Taylor said.

"It's a while since we've had a candidate from within Selwyn.”

He denied the electorate was merely being treated as a training ground for aspiring politicians, saying Selwyn was “becoming more red as it becomes more urban”. 

Labour vice-president Tracey McLellan said the party was proud of the candidates it was putting forward. 

“What matters is that they’re committed to the electorate, work alongside local people, and understand the issues that matter,” McLellan said. 

"People will judge candidates on their commitment and whether they show up for their community, not simply on which side of an electorate boundary they live.”

Taylor said National MP Nicola Grigg did not live in the electorate either; however, that was due to shifting electorate boundaries.

Said Grigg: “I have lived in Prebbleton for the past seven years and continue to do so. No matter the boundary, I remain deeply committed to the people and issues that shape the district."

Also standing is New Zealand First candidate Elizabeth Mundt, who is also a sitting Selwyn District Councillor, Act candidate Iain Murray, Greens candidate Alma De Anda, Opportunities Party candidate Adrian Mee, Alliance Party candidate Jesse Luke and independent Zoran Rakovic.