Sorry Tauranga, Winston won't be yours again | Bay of Plenty News | Local News in Bay of Plenty

Winston Peters won't stand as a candidate in the Tauranga electorate in 2011, but as NZ First leader, the party's electorate chairman Roy Townhill believes.

As news of Mr Peters' attempt at a comeback emerged, Mr Townhill said NZ First members would vote at the end of this month to dissolve a rule which meant the party leader must also stand as an electoral candidate.

"Winston almost certainly will not be the candidate for 2011 electorate in Tauranga," he said.

"If all goes right in the party he won't be a candidate anywhere, he will be the leader going around the country rejuvenating the party everywhere. That's what we are aiming for."

And Mr Townhill dismissed talk of a comeback, saying Mr Peters "never went away".

"He lost the election in Tauranga, but he never left the party. The party only missed out by a few votes - we would still be in Parliament if we had another 5000 votes. He never left."

Mr Peters last week sent an email to NZ First membership, apologising for the mistakes leading up to last year's election. He asked his members to prepare for the 2011 election campaign.

"Before we make a new beginning we want to use the hardest word in the English language - SORRY," Mr Peters is reported to have said. "We acknowledge that we made mistakes. In keeping our eyes on the big picture, we failed to appreciate the importance of the details."

Mr Townhill acknowledged that Mr Peters had neglected the Tauranga electorate in the past.

"Winston has stood for Tauranga in the last two elections and we hardly saw him. He was in Invercargill and Timbuktu drawing 200 people, but he was not doing it in his own electorate. Everybody got a piece of the pie."

Mr Townhill said support for NZ First in the Tauranga electorate had grown since the election.

"There are a lot of people who were sorry to see him go, and are coming round to the fact that we need him."

Should NZ First decide at its AGM on August 29, moves to find a new candidate for Tauranga should be swift.

- with NZPA