Manawatu mayor to stand in Power's electorate

Manawatu Mayor Ian McKelvie will stand for National in the Rangitikei electorate, filling the gap left by senior minister Simon Power.

Mr Power has held the seat as a National MP for 12 years, including three as a minister, but will stand down after the November election.

Mr McKelvie, 58, has confirmed he had been selected to stand in the electorate.

"In a funny way I'm quite excited by it," he told NZPA.

"I suppose I've been around the world a long time now and it takes a fair bit to excite me. It's an opportunity to do something different and move on in the world."

Mr McKelvie said Mr Power had done "exceptionally well in Rangitikei" but he was not concerned about filing his large boots.

"I'm a different type of person than Simon and have different aspirations than he has. I'm a very different generation from Simon."

Mr McKelvie said a national campaign would be different from a local government campaign but he was looking forward to the challenge.

"It's an opportunity I never expected to come my way, really, so I think from that point of view it's exciting, and you're sort of nervous about it," he said.

He would step down as mayor if elected, he said.

Rangitikei has been held by a National candidate since 1938, except when Social Credit's Bruce Beetham held it for two terms from 1978.

In the 2008 election Mr Power won 65.7 percent of the electorate vote and National took 52.45 percent of the party vote.

Mr Power's decision to stand down from Parliament came as a surprise to many, with Prime Minister John Key saying he was "stunned and flabbergasted".

At the time, Mr Power said leadership was "not for me" but did not rule out a future return to politics.

Mr Power is minister of justice, commerce and state owned enterprises, associate finance minister, the minister responsible for the Law Commission, and Deputy Leader of the House.

Labour's candidate for Rangitikei is Josie Pagani, who today welcomed Mr McKelvie's announcement.

"I look forward to finding out how he plans to make the cost of living more affordable," she said.