Gaurav Sharma

Gaurav Sharma believes there is plenty of support for his new political party. The former Labour MP has announced he is quitting Parliament, sparking a by-

Today on The Huddle- We had David Farrar, Kiwiblog writer and Curia pollster, and Mike Munroe, former Labour Chief of Staff and current director at Mike Mu.

But 13 percent of customers using that option is still surely significant? Couple of parents and the Tertiary union are pretty devastated but the uni says its not their priority. - Author

A by-election has been triggered in Hamilton West by ousted MP Gaurav Sharma's resignation, but no one is ready to throw their hat in the ring yet.

“We consider it unnecessary and wasteful given a general election is scheduled for 2023.” [would attempt to “remove” him from Parliament](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300715341/gaurav-sharma-says-he-has-resigned-as-an-mp-triggering-byelection), and he was “pre-empting” the party by resigning. He could not be reached by Stuff on Tuesday. Sharma would stay in the race and said he planned to start a new political party and run as an independent MP. [he planned to contest the Hamilton West electorate and put his name forward,](https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/128493090/return-of-the-king-former-hamilton-mayor-eyes-seat-in-the-beehive) saying “I feel like I have more to give”. She has just been re-elected as councillor and said she has a “fabulous” portfolio as chairperson of the Finance and Monitoring Committee and deputy chairperson of the Infrastructure and Transport Committee. Dan Steer – who was a Hamilton West candidate for the city council in the local body elections and works in Labour's Hamilton East office – could be a potential Labour Party candidate. He wished Sharma the best, and said: “I have a hell of a lot of time for him and I’ve been supportive of him right through and I think he has Hamilton’s best interests at heart.” [Return of the King: former Hamilton mayor eyes seat in the Beehive](https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/128493090/return-of-the-king-former-hamilton-mayor-eyes-seat-in-the-beehive?rm=a) [as National’s candidate in Hamilton West in May](https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/128541439/unfinished-business-reignites-tim-macindoes-political-ambitions). [River city runs red as Labour claims Hamilton's east and west seats](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/123125722/river-city-runs-red-as-labour-claims-hamiltons-east-and-west-seats?rm=a) And Labour could face an uphill battle to hold the electorate in the

Labour has been forced into contesting a by-election in Hamilton West, that could be a litmus test for next year's election. Independent MP Gaurav Sharma ...

Embattled MP Gaurav Sharma says his decision to resign from Parliament and trigger a by-election in his Hamilton West electorate is "not at all" a personal ...

"I think the problem for Sharma is that he's not really resigning on a big point of principle. "You do that because it's good political management but it's a failure of the Whip's office as well, a failure of the culture of the party." "The problem for Labour is that this is not a by-election they want, it should never have happened. Sharma claims Labour were planning to invoke the waka-jumping rule against him next year, six months before the General Election. On his plans to create a new political party, Sharma said: "We're getting to a point where it's just too much of red and blue, and we need people just to focus on policy, to focus on outcomes rather than ideologies. And the embattled MP rejected the idea that triggering a by-election was selfish, adding that he "might not even win".

Guarva Sharma's stuck it right up the Government by jumping ship before they could invoke the Waka Jumping Bill to push him off it. He was already sacked b.

So how is it ok for taxpayers money to be spent on that, but not on Sharma’s seat? Guarva Sharma’s stuck it right up the Government by jumping ship before they could invoke the Waka Jumping Bill to push him off it. We saw Grant Robertson come straight out with the discrediting narrative, saying there was no basis to Sharma’s claims that they were going to kick him out via the Waka Jumping Bill.

Any relief for Labour and Jacinda Ardern at the resignation of an MP who has levelled many, varied, and mostly nebulous charges of bullying and harassment will ...

The party has trailed National, both head to head and in left-right bloc terms, in opinion polls for months. Time, because it’s about a year to the general election, the lowest (they hope) ebb in the cycle, a time of flux, cost of living crisis, and a pervading sense of disgruntlement. Labour will seek to play that down, to point up the anomalous parts of the contest, maybe even to affect a frustrated shrug of near-indifference at an unnecessary, expensive exercise. Well, he’s keen to “send a message to the government that you can’t silence the voice of the common man”, and he’s not stopping there. The exiled MP “may wish to reconsider his decision given he is unnecessarily costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of dollars to trigger a byelection he then intends to stand in,” she said. The revelation came – of course it did – in a Facebook update.

Labour has confirmed it investigated Gaurav Sharma's conduct and recommended he be expelled from the party.

There is no link between the two." The New Zealand Council then met to decide whether or not to investigate the matter, but the Labour Party's rules prevented it from confirming whether or not it had chosen to investigate. In a lengthy social media post, Sharma said his resignation was a pre-emptive move, as he had heard the Labour Party was planning to boot him from Parliament using the waka jumping legislation.

Potential candidates' names are starting to swirl and a straw poll of Hamilton West voters indicates various views on who should fill the recently resigned ...

For now she was focusing on her community and environment portfolio with the council. It came completely out of the blue.” [said he might consider a tilt at Hamilton East for National](https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/300667828/councillors-eye-national-candidacy-in-hamilton-east-for-next-year)– said he wasn’t looking at standing for the party in the Hamilton West by-election “at this stage”. In an email the just-retired west ward councillor of 24 years said “I can safely say Sharma was the worst Hamilton West MP I’ve seen in that time”, criticising strongly his relationships with other party members. Meanwhile, recently retired city councillor and Labour member Dave Macpherson suggested Georgie Dansey was the “front-runner” to get his party’s nomination – she’d been the other nominee when Sharma was selected in 2020, he said. Another re-elected councillor with potential interest in Hamilton East for National, Kesh Naidoo-Rauf, confirmed she wasn’t interested in Hamilton West and hadn’t given much thought to Hamilton East “but I always keep my options open”. “I’ve always had a warm personal relationship with Gaurav and I wish him well, but I’m not commenting about the likely by-election looming in Hamilton West at this stage.” [Gaurav Sharma’s resignation](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300715341/gaurav-sharma-says-he-has-resigned-as-an-mp-triggering-byelection) could, in part, be about hurting Labour, but felt it was “a bit of a tit for tat thing” between the MP and the party. [earlier indicated his desire to stand again](https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/128541439/unfinished-business-reignites-tim-macindoes-political-ambitions) –was tight-lipped in a message Tuesday night. There’s a sense of change in the community.” “What a huge waste of taxpayers’ money, unnecessary,” Marshall said, describing Sharma as acting “like a spoiled child in the playground”. She voted for National’s Tim Macindoe last time but this by-election “I’ve got to think about it”.