Paul King (New Zealand)

Paul King is a New Zealand political candidate. In the 1999 elections and the 2002 elections, he stood as a candidate for ACT New Zealand, being ranked 37th and 11th, respectively. He also stood in the Banks Peninsula electorate on both occasions.

In 2004, the prospect emerged of King entering Parliament — Kenneth Wang, the only non-elected ACT candidate who ranked higher than him, had entered Parliament on the expulsion of Donna Awatere Huata, and Richard Prebble was widely expected to retire as well. However, ACT's leadership now considered King to be unsuitable, having developed concerns about King's business dealings. King's computer and information technology company, Wizkid Internet Ltd, had been engaged in a lengthy and expensive court battle with another company, Insite, and King had been at risk of losing his house over the matter. He had also entered into a significant dispute with his telephone company over a large bill which the company claimed King had not paid. On 27 November 2004, it was reported that ACT's leadership had reached an agreement with King to rule out the possibility of King entering Parliament. King, however, said that he had not made up his mind, and said that there were factions in the party which were attempting to sideline him.

In March 2005, King joined with another disgruntled ACT member, Gareth Turner, to announce the establishment of the new Freedom Party. Turner, who had just lost a challenge to party president Catherine Judd, claimed that there were a significant number of people who supported ACT's basic principles, but objected to ACT's leadership. ACT has responded by saying that King and Turner are simply bitter about their respective failures to gain office. King announced an intent to stand in the Epsom seat in the 2005 elections, the same seat that Rodney Hide, ACT's leader, contested and won. However, King's name was not on the list of candidates, and the Freedom Party did not take part in the election.

External links

* [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0206/S00564.htm ACT Party Releases List - Prebble Speech]
* [http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_minisite_story_skin/479152 Act party distracted by breakaway]