Politics

Northcote by-election candidates announced

21:31 pm on 15 April 2018

Labour has selected Shanan Halbert to go up against National's Dan Bidois in the Northcote by-election.

Shanan Halbert Photo: Labour Party

The Auckland seat became vacant after National MP and former Health Minister Jonathan Coleman left Parliament to take up a job heading a private health provider.

Mr Halbert works at Te Wanaga O Aotearoa, and before that was a policy advisor at Parliament.

He contested the seat at last year's general election, which Mr Coleman won by more than 6000 votes.

Dan Bidois currently works for Foodstuffs as a strategy manager, having previously worked as a strategist and economist in New Zealand, the United States, and Malaysia.

Dan Bidois. Photo: Supplied.

Northcote residents, he said, deserved a council and government that could manage their finances, without constant rates and tax increases.

Mr Bidois, 35, is of European and Māori (Ngati Maniapoto) descent.

Mr Bodois has a Master's in Public Policy from Harvard University in the United States, where he attended as a Fulbright Scholar.

The election will be held on Saturday, 9 June.