Safe Labour Seat Christchurch East has just held its selection. The choice was between Labour List MP (based in Waimakariri) Dan Rosewarne, and perennial loser Reuben Davidson, who most recently lost in Selwyn to Nicola Grigg last election. Davidson was too far down Labour List to become an MP, while Rosewarne is the most recent of the List MPs to get in to parliament.
The party has chosen Davidson over Rosewarne. I happen to know Dan Rosewarne from his time in the army, and came up against Davidson when I was volunteering for National in one of the previous campaigns (which he lost).
Dan Rosewarne was a very highly regarded and popular man in the army. He was a vehicle mechanic initially, before commissioning from the ranks and serving as a very well regarded officer in the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment. He has conducted multiple deployments overseas including to Afghanistan. He has beaten cancer. He is a dedicated family man (faithfully married to a woman, a rare thing for a Labour man these days). He was awarded a Chief of Army’s commendation when he was a JNCO and came to the aid of a police officer on the side of the road who was being viciously attacked by two gang thugs – Dan took them both down on his own.
Dan worked his way up the ranks, learnt a trade, served his country with distinction overseas and domestically, and is a dedicated family man. He has seen and gone through the NZ health system first hand while he beat cancer.
Naturally Labour find it hard to put him in either a winnable seat or else in a good list position. He has slugged it out two or three times against the very popular Matt Doocey in the safe blue seat of Waimakiriri. He should have been given a good list placing last election to reflect his hard work and ability to represent the real world in Parliament – Jacinda made a captain’s call that this straight, white, working-class family man who has served his adulthood in the army would be as low down as she could possiblyt place him.
Reuben Davidson is a media producer with Whitebait Media. That is the company which makes children’s tv shows (such as What Now), and that is the same company which hired a paedophile to work as a cameraman. I have some good friends who also worked (for a short time) for Davidson at that company – they hated him. They said that he couldn’t stop going on about politics at work (remember, his work was producing children’s tv), and that he would go on foul-mouthed rants about National or John Key or the Young Nats or whoever he could. My apolitical friends hated it.
When I was working on the National campaign against him, we received unsolicited phone calls from his other employees about what an inappropriate boss he was, constantly ranting about politics at work and making the whole company very very uncomfortable for his workers.
Davidson is now going to be an MP, and Dan Rosewarne is unlikely to get back in on the list again.
Labour hates the military and anyone associated with it. Labour loves sycophantic party yes-men.
No Minister 
Sounds like Labour have done your man a favour. He sounds too good to go to parliament and dragged down into the mire. Let alone be a Labour backbencher, perhaps the ,ost thankless task in the world.
“Sounds like Labour have done your man a favour. He sounds too good to go to parliament ”
Almost agree. However, if the guy has decent values then just let him challenge the seat as an independent. Dunno what the ACT or Nat (Nicola Grigg ?) candidates are like; At least as an independent he could hold the majority to some account, and voters would have a genuine option for a protest vote.
No he’s a list MP – he has no majority anywhere. This was a chance for him to represent a safe labour seat (to replace Poto Williams), but Labour have chosen the very creepy Reuben Davidson instead.
MS, I admit the point of your post eludes me.
Labour had the choice between two serial losers and chose the one you disliked over your mate.
If it helps I admit I wouldn’t vote for either man.
Now if they had helicoptered in a brain-dead, no-hoper, racist sheila from Jafaville ………………….
Not much point other than to point out that Labour have hired a creepy man who hired a paedophile to film children’s tv.
And I’m annoyed that the good Dan Rosewarne was deemed inferior to him by Labour. I shouldn’t be surprised, you are quite right, but it is still disheartenting.
The only explanation I have (consistent with many other observations) is that Labour loathes the military.
@Major… I’m guessing the military have got labour sussed out and it must show.
Rosewarne sounds a useful chap. ‘Dodged a bullet’ as they say, by missing out. How could any thinking person be involved with labour?
Looks like Labour are putting forward people (duds) who have been failures before – but staunch Labour.
They have done it in Mt Albert too – a failure so she get the Labour role after she got beaten last time by Swarbrick in Auckland Central.
Yes, but the annoying thing in this case is that Dan Rosewarne fits that category too – staunch Labour who has fought several times before (unsuccessfully against the very popular Matt Doocey in Waimakariri).
The point of difference between Rosewarne and Davidson is that Davidson is a creepy werido with a track record of his employees hating him, while Rosewarne is a capable and popular soldier with a track record of service and loyalty.
Naturally Labour have chosen Davidson…