Angee Nicholas faces key battle for National's Pacific representation

For Angee Nicholas, being National’s highest-ranked Pasifika candidate comes with no guarantees.

The Rarotonga-born lawyer is ranked 26th on National's list, making her the party’s only Pacific candidate in its top 30.

But with the election now just 87 days away, Nicholas tells William Terite on Pacific Mornings that her focus is firmly on winning Henderson.

"I'm really grateful to the party for their vote of confidence," she says. "But my campaign isn't done. I've still got a few more months to go to work and to earn every single vote."

Nicholas has one of the strongest chances of any Pasifika candidate to enter Parliament through an electorate.

In 2023, she came within 131 votes of defeating Labour's Phil Twyford in the former Te Atatū electorate. The boundaries have since changed, with Nicholas now contesting the newly formed Henderson seat.

Watch Angee Nicholas' full interview below.

National has four Pasifika candidates on its list but Nicholas is the only one in the top 30. Former MP Agnes Loheni is ranked 58th, Rosemary Bourke 40th and Zabeen Lateef 68th.

Of National's top 20 candidates, six are women but there are no Māori or Pasifika candidates in the top 10.

National leader Christopher Luxon has defended the list as a "pretty representative group", pointing to Nicholas and other female candidates who are not currently in the caucus.

Listen to Anae Arthur Anae's full interview below.

Nicholas says her ranking is a sign that National wants to win Pacific support - but she accepts the party still has to earn it.

"Every single party needs to fight for Pacific votes and the National Party is no stranger to that either," she says.

The list comes as last month’s PMN News-Horizon Research Pacific Issues Election Survey found 72 per cent of almost 300 Pacific respondents believed National did not understand Pacific communities well.

The figure was even higher for ACT at 74 per cent while 59 per cent said the same of New Zealand First.

The findings also underline the challenge for Nicholas and National as they look to win back Pacific support ahead of the election.

Former National MP Anae Arthur Anae says Pacific voters should support candidates from across the political spectrum.

"Vote for the person in the electorate that you want and don't forget there's a number of Pacific people standing for different parties and electorates. They need your support," he tells Fala Haulangi on PMN Tuvalu.

Loheni, who was an MP from 2019 to 2020, has also kept her focus on the campaign after her list ranking prompted an online comment questioning why she was not placed higher.

“I’m just going to keep working hard, knocking on doors and doing everything I can to earn the support of the people of Waitākere,” she wrote.

National is currently polling at around 31 per cent, which could translate to about 39 or 40 seats. But Nicholas says her position on the list is not something she can rely on. "It's not a given. So we can't take opportunities like this for granted."

That leaves Henderson as the big prize. "I've got a seat to win because I care about Henderson. And I'd love to be the next MP."

For Pacific voters, the result could have a direct impact on how much Pasifika representation National takes into the next Parliament.