Clutha-Southland split by bitter selection battle

Several Clutha-Southland National Party members in Gore have been dubbed the "evil six" in the increasingly bitter selection contest for the blue-ribbon seat.

Todd Barclay.

The contest between MP Todd Barclay and challenger Simon Flood is dividing the electorate, and it is understood there is fierce lobbying of voting delegates.

At the first of three meet-the-candidate evenings, in Queenstown, on Wednesday, it is understood Mr Flood promised to unify and heal divisions in the normally placid electorate.

Neither Mr Flood nor Mr Barclay would comment on the issue when contacted.

National Party member Lloyd Anderson, of Gore, told the Otago Daily Times a group of members, whom he called the "evil six", were stirring up trouble. Mr Anderson said he supported Mr Barclay because he was a good MP, working hard to represent the very large Clutha-Southland electorate.

Mr Barclay was being undermined by former staff members, Mr Anderson believed. Mr Anderson said Mr Barclay was able to devote all his time to the electorate, which had been impossible for former electorate MP now list MP and Prime Minister Bill English.

Mr Anderson said he feared the Gore electorate office would close if Mr Flood, who lives in Queenstown, was the MP. 

Mr Barclay owns a home in Arrowtown, but said yesterday that when not required in Wellington, he divided his time evenly in different parts of the electorate. 

"I spend an average two nights per week at my home in Arrowtown," he said.

The ODT asked Mr Anderson about a claim he lobbied a fellow church member last Sunday at Calvin Community Church, in Gore. Mr Anderson rejected that, but declined to discuss the matter.

"That person ... really wants to sit down and understand how that conversation went from start to finish.

"That is 100% wrong in the way you have put it to me."

Asked if church was an appropriate time to lobby for his favoured candidate, Mr Anderson said: "Pull your bloody woolly head in. Church was over and done with.

"[The person] has told somebody else to stir the thing up, and it’s one of those evil six that are doing all the stirring.

"Those people, and there is probably half a dozen of them in Gore, male and female, that should have a good look at themselves in the mirror and speak the truth. How can only two people ... no-one else being in the room, have got that information out to you?"

The ODT has chosen not to name the woman who was allegedly lobbied. The ODT was told about the incident by a third party, and when the woman was contacted, she refused to speak to the ODT.

The final selection meeting will be held in Winton, next Wednesday, where voting delegates from the electorate branches will choose their candidate for the 2017 election.