Former campaign manager throws hat into Epsom ring

John Banks' former Auckland mayoral campaign manager, Aaron Bhatnagar, wants to go head-to-head with his ex-boss as National Party candidate for the Epsom electorate.

Mr Banks was this weekend confirmed as the ACT Party's Epsom candidate for the November general election.

The Auckland seat has been crucial for ACT since 2005 and may be its path into Parliament this year, if the party remains unable to meet the 5 percent party vote threshold.

Prime Minister John Key earlier signalled National would not make a serious bid to win the seat, saying it would not campaign to knock support partners ACT out of Parliament.

But Auckland businessman and former councillor Aaron Bhatnagar has signalled he will seek nomination as National's Epsom candidate, saying he believed it can win the seat back.

"I think Epsom's at a point where it's gone through a rather confusing and difficult period, I think it'd be great to have a fresh pair of eyes for the electorate," he told Radio New Zealand.

"It'd be fantastic to have someone in Epsom who is working inside the John Key Government to deliver for the people of Epsom."

Mr Bhatnagar was Mr Banks' campaign manager for the Auckland mayoral race and worked alongside him on council as part of the Citizens and Ratepayers ticket.

He has been involved with National since 2002.

Mr Banks, himself a National member until this month and a former Cabinet minister for the party, said he felt "completely relaxed" about Mr Bhatnagar seeking the nomination.

"He's a first class New Zealander and I look forward to a battle of ideas, a battle of experience, achievement, because the people of Epsom deserve this," he told Radio New Zealand.

Mr Banks said a vote for himself would help reinforce the National government by increasing ACT's presence in Parliament.

"Any National Party candidate selected for Epsom will be well placed on the National Party list and in Parliament anyway."

Mr Banks said he got about 75 percent of the votes in Epsom in the Auckland mayoral race and was "quietly confident" he could win the seat.

The seat was held by National candidates Christine Fletcher and Richard Worth in the three terms before former ACT leader Rodney Hide won the seat in 2002.

In 2008, Mr Hide won the seat with 56 percent of the vote.

Nominations for National's Epsom candidate will open in about a fortnight and a selection will be made sometime in July.