The full line-up of who will contest the 2020 election has now been released by the Electoral Commission.
On Saturday, the commission said nominations have now closed and 17 registered political parties and 677 candidates will be taking part.
The election was set to be held on September 19, but was pushed back to October 17 after parties complained of being unable to campaign properly due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The delay gives the Opposition more time to plan, according to Massey University politics professor Richard Shaw - but it will be a nervous wait for Coalition partners The Green Party and New Zealand First, both in danger of being bundled out of Parliament.
Here's who will be taking part in the 2020 General Election.
Parties
The 17 registered parties seeking the party vote in 2020 are:
- ACT New Zealand
- Advance NZ
- Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party
- Green Party
- HeartlandNZ
- Labour Party
- Māori Party
- National Party
- New Conservative
- New Zealand First Party
- NZ Outdoors Party
- ONE Party
- Social Credit
- Sustainable New Zealand Party
- TEA Party
- The Opportunities Party (TOP)
- Vision New Zealand
The party lists are online here.
Candidates
Altogether, 677 candidates (electorate and list) are standing in this year's election. Out of these, 76 candidates are running on a party list only, 72 candidates for registered parties are standing as electorate candidates only, and 58 electorate candidates are standing as independents or representing unregistered parties.
The electorates with the most candidates are Northland and West Coast-Tasman with 12 candidates each, and the electorates with the lowest number of candidates are Hauraki-Waikato, Tāmaki Makaurau and Waikato with four candidates each.
Full candidate information is available online here.
