Greens to have new co-leader by Monday

The Green Party will have a new male co-leader by the end of the weekend - and the race is tight between two of the candidates.

Party members will vote on Saturday on who will take Russel Norman's place, with seasoned MP Kevin Hague out in front with newcomer and fellow MP James Shaw.

The Green Party's 133 electorate delegates will vote at the party's annual general meeting in Auckland tomorrow, using a preferential voting system.

The winner will be announced on the day.

Mr Hague and Mr Shaw are the frontrunners, with the other two contenders, MP Gareth Hughes and Green Party member Vernon Tava, understood to be well behind.

Mr Shaw said there was not a lot candidates could do now.

"The die has largely been cast, and there's very little at this point that we can do to influence the outcomes, so there's sort of a strange calm that's emerged."

But Mr Shaw is quietly optimistic about his chances.

"I've had some good news, but here's the thing - not all branches are letting it be known how they're intending to vote, and so I'm pretty confident looking at the votes that I know about, because there are a group of branches that have not said how they're planning to vote.

"We're just going to have to wait until Saturday to see what the outcomes going to be," he said.

Mr Hague thought he had a slight margin because he was a safe pair of hands.

"My experience in parliament really stands me in good stead that people understand that actually, this is not the kind of job that a total newcomer can do," he said.

Metiria Turei is the sole nomination to be re-elected as female co-leader, so the successful candidate will need to get on well with her.

She said she was looking for a running mate that understood that leadership was as much about forging a new direction as it was about being of service to the members and voters.

"We know that people look to the Green Party for new ideas because we're a dynamic party, forward thinking and 21st century.

"We're also very democratic, and we involve people in our decision making, so I'd like a new co-leader to have real respect for those processes.

But who does she want to work with?

"I have my views, I won't make them known - the party will decide as they do, and one of the things I love about our party is our membership does make the most important political decisions, of which choosing a co-leader is one," she said.

Mr Shaw said the candidates will find out together who had won.

"The four candidates will be in a room, we'll get told what the result is and then the winner will be brought out on stage," he said.

The result will be announced on Saturday afternoon.