No party leaders did I say? Not so fast, because there is indeed a party political leader living right here in Dunedin.
Victor Billot, who by day is the national communications officer for the Maritime Union of New Zealand and by night a musician and poet, is also the leader of the Alliance Party.
A history lesson. Founded in 1991 by future deputy prime minister Jim Anderton, the Alliance was originally a merger of the Democratic Party, Green Party, Mana Motuhake, Anderton’s New Labour Party and the Liberal Party.
The Greens split away before the 1999 election and Anderton himself broke with the party in 2002 to found the now defunct Jim Anderton's Progressive Party.
The Alliance failed to get back into Parliament — its star candidates then were Laila Harre and now Labour senior MP Willie Jackson — and out of Parliament it has stayed ever since.
Billot has tried before and failed before to resurrect the then moribund Alliance: he was elected party president in 2006 and co-leader in 2007, promising to field several candidates in the 2008 election.
However, its efforts garnered just 1909 party votes — less than 1% — and Billot amassed 448 votes in a failed bid to win Dunedin North.
The last time the Alliance troubled the scorers was in the 2011 election, when it received only 1209 party votes and Billot came a soundly-beaten fifth in Dunedin North.
It was subsequently deregistered but never actually dissolved,
Last year, by popular demand, the name and brand was revived.
Either you can’t keep a good man down or he is a sucker for punishment (delete according to your own feelings on the matter) but Victor Billot is back and spoiling for a fight.
Last month Billot — who is the new party leader — was confirmed as Alliance candidate in the Dunedin electorate for the upcoming election, and Waikouaiti Coast Community Board deputy chair Anna Knight is poised to stand in Taieri.
The party plans to announce more candidates in other regions.
The obvious question is why, and why now?
"Around the world, we are seeing a resurgence of this type of politics – we even have a democratic socialist mayor of New York City," Billot says.
"The time was right for the Alliance to make a comeback. Since that time, we have steadily grown and formed a national team, and have already announced over 10 candidates."
By "this type of politics" Billot means deeply, deeply left.
So left that it makes the Greens and Te Pati Maori look like centrists.
So left that they would make Winston Peters and David Seymour have conniptions.
Think returning all water, electricity, telecommunications, railways, coastal shipping, ports, and airports to public ownership.
Think Free education for all, from primary through tertiary level. Think high quality and free health care.
And how would New Zealand pay for all this?
By making the wealthy who earn their income from assets pay their fair share, to quote the Alliance’s on-line summary of its policies.
And if that sounds like good old fashioned socialism, you’re darned right that it does.
"The Alliance is clear that it is a democratic socialist party," Billot says.
"Public ownership is simply a sensible solution to give a hand to the struggling majority trying to make ends meet. It means all New Zealanders can benefit from the major economic assets of our society. For example, electricity generation under public ownership would provide affordable, renewable energy for consumers and business. Everyone knows the current system is broken."
But, let’s be honest here, the Alliance are not going to be the ones to repair it are they?
To hit the 5% MMP threshold in the 2023 election would have taken about 142,000 party votes, and going by their most recent electoral effort that target is about as far away as the dark side of the moon for the Alliance.
The Lord loves a trier though, and Billot is definitely a trier.
"The current electoral system works against any new party getting a fair chance," Billot, not unreasonably, points out. Many political scientists have made the same argument.
"The establishment parties have massive advantages through their huge numbers of paid staff and corporate donors, and they receive a large amount of taxpayer funded free publicity at election time. Why shouldn’t every registered party get the same amount of public funding and airtime at election time?"
Winston Churchill is reputed to have once said that the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
However, it is those voters Billot is counting on to revive the Alliance.
"We have hundreds of thousands of people who don’t vote. The young are alienated and turned off. We want to appeal to people who have lost their faith in the current set up.
"Instead of complaining about things, we are out there working to make a difference. The Alliance is here for the long term. We are a movement and we have survived."
