If a by-election is caused 6 months before the general election, the Parliament can wait and not trigger a by-election, but outside that 6 months, you have to. He is starting new ‘centrist party’ and will run as a candidate for that Party in the by-election. If National don’t stand and give tacit support for Sharma, and he wins, then they have a new support partner to call on come Election Day. It is a perfectly feasible and possible outcome that Sharma rides his political martyrdom all the way through as an independent and wins the seat. Labour can not take a win in Hamilton West for granted and neither can National.

Source: Otago Daily Times October 19, 2022 08:56 UTC