Longtime Invercargill Labour Party member and former MP Lesley Soper says she is ''quite relaxed'' about a Labour challenger for the Invercargill electorate at this year's general election.
That is despite the party actively seeking nominations last month after she had been all but confirmed as candidate.
''Bring it on,'' she said last week.
''It's never a bad thing to say you won an open competition, and I'm in this competition to win.''
When the party advertised late last year for candidates for the Invercargill electorate, Ms Soper (59) was the only person to respond.
But last month, after National MP for Invercargill Eric Roy announced he was retiring at this year's election, the party reopened nominations.
Michael Gibson (51), an Invercargill-based ACC and welfare advocate, and Ms Soper were nominated.
Their bids will be heard by a selection panel of local members and party hierarchy, probably next month.
Mr Gibson worked as electorate secretary for Dunedin North Labour MP Pete Hodgson from 1996 until 2002, and has been involved in the Labour Party in Invercargill since he moved south in 2007.
He believed he would bring different skills and experience to the role than Ms Soper would.
Ms Soper has been involved in numerous community and Labour Party activities and campaigns and was an MP briefly in 2005 and 2007.
She said she expected to win the candidacy because of her higher profile and ''solid record''.
