Election nominations announced

Thirteen political parties and 544 individual candidates will contest the November 26 election.

Nominations closed yesterday, and the Electoral Commission today released the official list of candidates.

The list shows a significant drop in both the number of parties and individuals in the race for a position in Parliament.

While there were 19 parties in 2008, only thirteen have registered this year.

National, Labour, Act, the Greens, Maori Party, Mana, and United Future are all seeking re-election, with Jim Anderton's Progressive Party the only current Parliament party not contesting.

Mr Anderton previously announced he would not be standing again.

The six parties from outside Parliament include Alliance, Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis, Conservative, Democrats for Social Credit, Libertarianz, and New Zealand First.

The nominations also showed a drop in the number of individual candidates, with 544 this year compared with 682 in 2008.

There are 91 list-only candidates, 73 electorate-only, and 380 standing for both. Thirty candidates are standing as independents or representing unregistered parties.

The most sought-after seat is Wellington Central, held by Labour's Grant Robertson, which 12 candidates, including Mr Robertson, will compete for.

With three candidates, Waiakriki, the Maori electorate held by Te Ururoa Flavell, is the electorate with the lowest number of candidates.

The number of men competing for a place in Parliament is more than double the number of women, with 397 compared with 147 women registered.

- Amelia RomanosĀ 

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