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Jolyon Swinburn has been selected as the Labour candidate for Kaipara ki Mahurangi.
As of time of publication, National had not chosen its candidate to replace sitting MP Chris Penk, who lost his ministerial portfolios and subsequently decided not to contest the seat at the November 7 election.
Jolyon works at the Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport, although he is on leave for the duration of the campaign and currently living in Pakiri. It his is first time standing for office, and he is not on Labour’s list.
Coincidentally, Swinburn worked under Penk at MBIE. He was principal advisor Small Business and Manufacturing at the ministry, then part of Penk’s portfolio.
“I had been looking forward to campaigning against him – he was a good Minister to work with,” Swinburn says.
At the 2023 election, Penk won convincingly, polling 28,281 votes to second-placed Guy Wishart (Labour) with 8822 votes. Wishart is currently the chairperson of the Rodney Local Board.
