What it'll mean for locals if four Wellington Bays candidates get into Parliament

Four candidates from one Wellington electorate are poised to make it into Parliament - but will locals be any closer to power for it?

The race for Wellington Bays remains on a knife's edge, with Labour's Craig Renney currently leading with 140 votes over the Green Party's Julie Anne Genter.

Special votes have yet to be counted, which could put either candidate in the lead.

Either way, Genter will go to Parliament, as a list MP or electorate MP - as will fellow candidates Nicole McKee, ACT's deputy leader, and Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, a list MP for Opportunity.

Renney, who at number 50 on the Labour list would need to win the electorate to have a seat, said the high number of representatives could work to the electorate's benefit.

"Having four local MPs will hopefully mean there'll be more voices inside Parliament, more voices inside government, channelling the needs of Wellington Bay's residents and hopefully that means we'll get addressed a little bit faster."

He added that it was a "just a quirk of MMP" that multiple candidates for an electorate were also list MPs.

In Wellington North, candidates Tamatha Paul, Ayesha Verrall and Jessica Hammond would all be list MPs for the Greens, Labour and Opportunity respectively if not voted in as the electorate MP.

Kingdon-Bebb said she hoped the candidates could work together "for the benefit of our community" after meeting often on the campaign trail.

"And by the end of it, Craig and Julie Anne and Karunā and I could all finish each other's speeches.

"We all got to know each other a little bit better. And I do think, although we all have different parties and different kind of political strengths, there is a real sense of collegiality between us."

She added that Opportunity wanted to work differently in Parliament and focus on building cross-party consensus for issues that could not be resolved in three-year terms.

She wanted to see change on infrastructure deficit, the cost of living and climate resilience.

She said Wellington had been "under-served".

"It's been hammered by the public service cuts. I think we need to lift up and elevate the fact that our capital region is really amazing.

"It should be a treasure for New Zealand. It deserves attention and support."

But Genter said the power of multiple voices for the South Coast was limited by the government of the day.

"It is definitely a downside of New Zealand's system that MPs and opposition have very little ability to make progress on the more systemic issues that are affecting their electorate and their community that they represent."

She said it had been hard to tackle issues in Wellington, when "we have had the last three years an executive that seemed intent on hurting Wellington as much as possible".

"So I don't think Wellington Bay is going to be over-represented no matter what happens."

But Renney disagreed with the impact MPs could have.

"I think we can all point to examples of where local MPs have raised local issues that are of particular concerns to local communities and through their advocacy have made real change, be that in, things like roading design, housing developments, the building of local schools."

In fact, McKee said being a list MP had not stopped her from advocating for Wellington Bays in the past.

"For example, when cycleways were going in and [the local yacht club] were worried about the loss of car parks and people being able to access the water, we came in and advocated for them in that respect."

She said there were some Wellington-specific issues such as rates and the expense of water infrastructure, like Moa Point.

She said that with four candidates from different parties, the electorate would have greater choice to have issues resolved in ways that aligned with their political beliefs.

"Whether the four of us can sit down and agree on a way forward, well that's yet to be seen because it's not just about us, it will be about our parties and political direction of whatever a government may take."

She said ACT's nationwide policies, such as ensuring value-for-money for ratepayers would benefit Wellington.

Genter espoused a similar view.

"I mean, most of what the community wanted to see here happens to align with Green Party policy, which I'm advocating for anyway."

For her the main difference between being a list MP and an electorate MP had been the time she'd been able to spend with the community, assisting locals personally.

But Renney said his priority was the electorate. If his work benefitted the wider country, that was a "happy side benefit".

"But my job as someone who's wanting to be the local MP here is to just make sure that we're advocating for the good people of Wellington Bays."

His priority was getting more investment into Wellington, into social housing, schools and hospitals.