One of the younger high-profile candidates running in this year’s election doesn’t regret putting politics ahead of partying.

A hot chocolate at Waikanae’s Hey Coastie is about as close as it gets to a night out for Labour’s Kapiti candidate Sophie Handford. The 25-year-old already has an impressive list of achievements to her name – founding School Strike 4 Climate NZ, serving two terms as a Kāpiti District councillor, being Alex Casey’s doppelgänger and now a tilt at parliament – but there’s one key experience she cannot claim. “I don’t think I’ve ever been drunk in my life,” she tells me – she’s already “high on life”.

Hanford’s so happy-go-lucky she’s already “blocked from my mind” an August Labour-aligned poll that put her ahead of current National Ōtaki MP Tim Costley by nearly four percentage points, at 37.5% to his 33.6% (the new Kapiti electorate takes in much of the now defunct Ōtaki seat). It’s just as well that Handford isn’t thinking about polls; there’s a whole six weeks of campaigning to get through before she reaches the finish line, and she’s not rushing to measure the drapes.

It’s often seen as a bit of a sleepy area, but Handford says Kāpiti has experienced a growth spurt since the 2022 opening of Transmission Gully, which has made travel to and from Wellington quicker and easier. It’s an “entrepreneurial” area with small business owners and families mostly worried about house prices and demand, says Handford. State housing is lacking, and the area’s reputation for being a home to well-off retirees has meant pockets of deprivation have been overlooked. “We have to get out there and actively tell those stories,” she says.

(If you’re wondering about Kāpiti vs Kapiti, there is debate over the use of the macron; the council uses it in its full name but not for its Māori ward, as mana whenua prefer it without.)

Handford’s climate advocacy may have left some assuming she was Greens-aligned, but the Labour Party is in Handford’s blood. She feels she’s “standing on the shoulders” of her grandfather, a man who “gave a lot of time and energy to the Labour movement”. Handford sees her role within the party as a “really big opportunity” to further climate action by tying it into cost-of-living concerns; Labour has offered a few policies that address both issues this campaign, like a public transport rate cap and solar subsidies.

Whatever way it’s served, Handford hopes making affordability a central part of the climate conversation could “decrease the polarisation that currently exists”. It shouldn’t fall on the Greens to be the one voice for the climate in parliament, she says. “We need more voices within every party who have that as a key focus.”

Outside of work, Handford is more of “an active relaxer” than a hobbies person. Self-described as an “outwardly focused person”, Handford says she’s often too busy “constantly trying to feel things around me” to read or knit. But a stay at a Zen Buddhist retreat with other climate activists earlier this year helped her find some balance. A daily mix of 17 hours of silence and four hours of yoga taught Handford a lot about “impermanence”, and knowing that “I am everything and everything is me”.

“When we drink a cup of tea, we’re drinking a cloud,” she explains. “When we walk on the Earth, the Earth is us.” Handford gives a shy smile, like I might be judging her spiritual leanings. Maybe I should’ve worn my woo-woo braids.

On the campaign trail, Handford has her support channels – and group chats. There’s the one between Labour’s female candidates, where her “sisters” trade advice and hype each other up (“Carmel’s like, ‘you got this, ladies'”). And her group chat with Labour’s Rotorua candidate Fisher Wang and the Greens’ Nelson candidate Rohan O’Neill Stevens. They were all elected to their respective local councils at 19 years old in 2019, have ridden out a few elections already and now all hope to make the transition to central government together this year.

There’s no guidebook to winning elections, but strong moral support seems to have worked pretty well for these guys so far. “We’ve just been figuring it out by doing it together,” Handford says.

THE SPINOFF PUB Q+A

How much should a pint cost?

I don’t really drink, so it’s not something I have a good measure of. But I would say under $15.

Do you have a karaoke go-to?

I love me a bit of Taylor Swift. I probably mostly go for ‘Blank Space’. But also, love anything Abba – especially ‘Dancing Queen’.

Favourite place to get a drink in Aotearoa?

I love a garden bar style, but again, when we say drink, I mean a lemon, lime and bitters. In Waikanae, we have Salt and Wood which is really popular, and the Waterfront Bar [in Raumati] has a great view, and they’ve just upgraded with a rooftop bar.

Which three candidates would be on your pub quiz team?

I’d say [Labour Kenepuru candidate] Barbara Edmonds, because she’s so intelligent, she’s really good with numbers, and she knows how to muster eight children, so she’d know how to coordinate the quiz team. I also feel like [Green Auckland Central candidate] Chlöe Swarbrick is another one who would be quick and quite brainy. And for political neutrality, I feel like [NZ First’s] Winston Peters could do history.

Which candidate from across the aisle would you most like to share a drink with?

[National North Shore candidate] Simon Watts. On the climate change and local government front, there’s a lot going on at the moment that I don’t understand. I want to peel back the layers of the onion.

Is there an alcohol-related law you would like to change?

When I was on council, we had a lot of conversations around Easter Sunday trading, and I think that’s something communities need to work through with their own people. I also read Max Harris’s answer around foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FADS), and that’s something I want to echo. We need to put more resourcing into understanding it.

What’s a policy area we’ve been nursing without finishing the glass?

I feel like there’s a whole bunch of things we need to go further and faster on. We talk a lot about climate change and local agreements and nationally determined contributions, but the [United Nations’] decisive decade of action is the end of 2030. Have we really done enough when warming is now looking like it’s above the 1.5 degrees [threshold in the Paris Agreement]?

I mean, it’s never going to be “done” and we have a climate-just world. But it’s something we need to be actively investing in, because the cost of inaction just gets too high. And that’s also something we don’t talk about enough: how do you put a value on losing entire ecosystems and cultures?

What qualities make a good drinking partner?

Someone who’s authentic, has a smile and is able to look on the bright side of life. I think it’s important that we talk about the hard stuff and work our way through that.

Have you ever had a Schnapps election moment where you regretted your political instinct?

Running a campaign of this scale is a lot about trusting your gut. My guts serves me well; there’s still a lot of imposter syndrome that comes with this. I’m not going to pretend there isn’t; that’s why I like having an amazing team of people.

Up next on One Candidate, One Pint: Tania Waikato, Green Party candidate for Waiariki. Read more One Candidate, One Pint interviews here.