4 May, 2026

Podcast host named as Labour candidate for Shore

Serious concerns about priorities at North Shore Hospital, the state of the Hauraki Gulf and public transport are three local issues being highlighted by the newly selected Labour Party candidate for North Shore.
Sam Collins (pictured), who has a background in media and communications and has run a podcast co-hosted by former cabinet ministers Phil Goff and Chris Finlayson, has already posted clips of himself out and about in the electorate talking about the issues he intends to campaign on.
They show him at Sunnynook Park and Takapuna Beach. The 39-year-old family man owns a home in Long Bay, in the East Coast Bays electorate.

“If the unthinkable happens and I overturn North Shore, I’ll aim to move,” he says.
North Shore is a long-standing true-blue National Party seat held by Simon Watts, in 2023 with a 16,330 majority over Labour challenger George Hampton. He will contest Christchurch Central this election.
For Collins, increasing the party vote for Labour will be a priority. Its share of the party vote in the seat slumped to less than 18 per cent in the last election.
He says Labour’s pillar issues – jobs, health and homes – have wide appeal as people look for long-term thinking and answers to the cost of living crisis.
Collins says along with his use of social-media channels, he plans town centre appearances and plenty of old-school door-knocking.
“I just want to talk to as many people as possible,” he says. “I’m a bit like a labrador … I just love connecting with people.”

Collins spent seven years in the UK, which is where he says his interest in politics grew during the Brexit debate.
He had a job as head of video for media company Global. In the morning he might be filming a pop star, in the afternoon a politician, where he noted some could be slippery beasts.
Back in Auckland, where he had completed a Masters in Public Policy after an initial broadcasting degree, he soon became involved with Labour, helping with campaigns and in backroom roles. For the last two years he has chaired the party’s Auckland-Northland Regional Council.
The Cross Party Lines podcast he has run with Goff and Finlayson interviews politicians of all stripes in an attempt to add to democratic debate.
Nine months ago he launched his own podcasting-advice company, Audio Advisory, and says starting a small business has given him first-hand experience of the struggles involved. His parents also ran their own business in Hamilton.
Timeout these days involves taking his eight-year-old son to Shore playgrounds.
Collins senses a mood for change across the country. “We have an opportunity to make history by restricting this chaotic coalition government to one term.”

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