Labour has announced Georgie Dansey will be the party's candidate at the Hamilton West by-election.
Dansey is the chief executive of the Independent Schools Education Association, owns Body Fit Training in Te Awamutu, and was a list candidate for Labour in 2020.
"Georgie's years of experience representing education workers and running her own business makes her ideally suited to advocate for Hamiltonians inside Government and ensure workers and business voices are represented," said Labour President Claire Szabó.
"She brings a great perspective and represents Labour's values of fairness and opportunity in this by-election."
Dansey, who whakapapas to Ngāti Tūwharetoa, said she's looking forward to the campaign.
"The people of Hamilton West deserve to have a strong, progressive voice inside government. I can provide that voice," Dansey said.
"In this by-election I want the focus to be on accelerating progress for our community. No one has benefited from the recent drama with the outgoing MP. It’s time to move on and get back to focusing on the real issues Hamiltonians face, and I’m committed to working for Hamilton West on the issues that matter to them."
National revealed on Monday three nominees for its candidate for the by-election: Rachel Afeaki-Taumoepeau, Frances Hughes, and Tama Potaka. The Opportunities Party has submitted Naomi Pocock as its candidate.
The by-election has been forced by the resignation of independent MP Dr Gaurav Sharma, who will also contest the election. He was a Labour MP until he was kicked out of the caucus in August when he made unfounded claims of bullying within Labour, accused Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of a cover-up and shared secret recordings of colleagues.
Dr Sharma resigned his seat in Parliament in October after claiming Labour was planning to use waka-jumping legislation to force him out closer to next year's general election. If he left Parliament within six months of the election, politicians could choose not to hold a by-election. He was concerned this would leave his Hamilton West constituents without an MP for months.
However, Labour leader Jacinda Ardern disputed that. She said there was no plan to kick Dr Sharma out and a by-election was a "complete waste of taxpayer money".
Both Labour and National are painting themselves as the underdog in the race for Hamilton West. Hamilton West is a bellwether seat, meaning it typically goes to the party that receives the largest national vote.
Dr Sharma entered Parliament on Labour's landslide victory in 2020, while National's Tim Macindoe was the MP for the four terms before when his party was the most popular. Before him, Labour's Martin Gallagher held it while Helen Clark's Government was in power. National's Bob Simcok briefly held it during the Jim Bolger Government.
