McKinnon Will Stand For List

Don McKinnon has confirmed he will be seeking a place on the National party list despite his bid to become the Commonwealth's Secretary General.

The former Deputy Prime Minister and current Minister of Foreign affairs is in a strong position to take the job with pledges of support from a varied range of Commonwealth countries. There is one other candidate in the race from Bangladesh, who is said to be now in London for a round of lobbying.

A spokesman for Mr McKinnon said "things are going pretty well, but he is not counting his chickens yet. Lobbying is continuing."

Who gets the job will be decided at the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting in November, which would normally fall in the middle of the election campaign. However there has been speculation that the election may now be as late as December to allow the Prime Minister to attend CHOGM.

Mr McKinnon's spokesman said that the Minister would still be seeking a place on the National Party List, Mr McKinnon stood for the list only in 1996 as number two due to his position as then Deputy Prime Minister.

"Mr McKinnon is not retiring from politics, in the event he gets the Commonwealth job, naturally he will step aside for someone else. But in the event of not winning he has no intention of leaving politics," said the spokesman.

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