After creating a Cabinet who will be used against him, the decision by Bill English to not stand in the Mt Albert by-election next year is his first shrewd decision.
Leaving the by-election to Labour and the Greens and NZ First is sure to spark resentment amongst 3 parties who need to look like they are working together if they are win the 2017 election.
Labour would hope the Greens and NZ First will also agree to not stand so that Jacinda can just waltz into the position without needing to incite friction amongst competing activists of the opposition.
Clever play by English.
Touched by Berandal
Touched by Berandal
The greens are apparently standing in Gisborne I am told also with a Labour representative so I am sure this will test the waters also.
NZ First are also lobbying hard for a plan to restore our damaged rail national caused five years ago as they robbed the track maintenance funding for Auckland passenger rail.
So with the incumbent National MP Anne Tolley not liked, she will face an angry voting public.
I wouild prefer if these three opposition parties worked together strategically to defeat the nasty Natz and stand one candidate so they don’t split the vote but will they?
But as we all know,… shrewdness can backfire.
1) We are talking Double Dipper here . Publicly perceived as the guy who won one of Nationals greatest defeats ever in 2002.
2) We give Dildo Joyce far too much credit for campaign management. The guy who was stunningly defeated both by Peters in Northland and Wood in Roskill.
What probably will happen is simply a token effort by the Greens and NZ First , which a ) saves face and gives the appearance of being ‘contenders’ , and b ) ensures a united center left front stays intact.
So if people consider that a’ shrewd’ move by the Double Dipper , then it could equally be said to be just as shrewd a maneuver by the MOU and NZ First.
Interestingly ,… I wonder if the permanent sealing of Pike River is planned to be finished around that same by election date…. maybe speculation but there’s a whole lot riding on what happens there ,… if the mine was to be reentered? … all political hell would break loose if forensic evidence was found that there was collusion / culpability in certain circles.
Watch this space.
100% WK well summarised.
I wonder Wild Katipo if the fact Winnie has stated his bottom line for entertaining joining with National is – that Pike River Mine is re-opened. I honestly do not think National will accept that bottom line – is Winnie subtly letting us know that he will not consider National or is he just playing his old tricks again. He will be in an awkward position if he is offered baubles he cannot resist and National stick to their guns and refuse to enter the mine. Its not like Winnie to get himself into a bind like this. Your thoughts?
Possibly this latest Kaikoura quake has something to do with it, as a reason for Keys departure,… but in an interview with RNZ , Peters stated to the effect that ” the economy is not what we have been led to believe” …. when asked for why Key left … stated ”the reason he left is because of administrative and accountability issues which we will all be hearing about in the coming weeks and months”…
It could be a combination of things but it just seems strange … there’s a lot more going on with that Pike River issue that the public are unawares of.
Peters didn’t like Key , and he has consistently criticized Key and National – oftentimes quite harshly. I also think Peters knows this English / Bennett combo is weak and will not last. That strong ‘ line in the sand ‘ seemed pretty emphatic. He wouldn’t say that and later state he would be the first into the mine with the first team if he wasn’t solid in his belief and standing , – and knew a bit more than he can say at present.
National wont reenter the mine because to do that would call into question their narrative for the last 6 years. Keys gone. A weak ‘duo’ is in his place instead. So that leaves only the Greens and Labour … the line in the sand could be an indication of Peters leanings.
Thanks Wild Katipo – its how I feel as well, that he has forehand knowledge that we may not have, he is a wily old bugger and has his ear to the ground, man its going to be an interesting new year for us all.
Mt Albert are never going to vote for Melissa Lee.
Maybe we could make “Melissaly” a new adverb, as in “She commented on the matter of criminals driving up the motorway from South Auckland to rob the people of Mt Albert melissaly.”
Melissaly; adv, to temporarily lose awareness of the political ramifications of the next words to come from your mouth, as in “Gerry reacted melissaly to the concerns of the Kaikoura farmers.”
Melissaly; adv, to temporarily lose awareness of the political ramifications of the next words to come from your mouth, as in “Gerry reacted melissaly to the concerns of the Kaikoura farmers.”
“The Mt. Albert-based list MP followed up with another act of melissaly, when she tweeted about how much she was enjoying the K-Pop cds a friend burned for her, just hours after speaking in parliament about the importance of punishing copyright infringement.”
Strikes me as a cowardly decision and a big FU to democracy.
Not so smart.
The Greens, New Zealand First, the Maori Party and Labour all standing, but showing an ability to present a collegial face will be able to present as a government in waiting, while the contest obliges the Media to give them a platform.
The Nats will regret this, as the other parties appeal directly and without contradiction to traditional centre-right voters with irrefutable and unrefuted evidence of either complacent arrogance or cowardice, on the part of the government as a given.
It is the kind of thing that frames the debate in Election Year and starts the momentum ball rolling.
This is why Martyn isn’t on campaign committees.
He’s also saving funds for the general election
Why can’t Lab/Gre run it as a contest of ideas (like they keep saying) instead of an adversarial competition for ‘who should be the winner’?
If I had the chance to vote, I’d be much more engaged with a discussion about what we should prioritise and how we should do it: with the understanding that both candidates are for the same goal.
Because it doesn’t matter what they say or do, Partick Gower will turn it into an adversarial fight-to-the-death and paint them as disorganised and disunited.
I reckon the best the coordinated left can do is keep it clean and simply run a single candidate.
If they can’t side-step Gower, they don’t deserve to be in power.
Maybe the Nats could go the whole hog and withdraw from next years’ general election?
Then it could be a contest between Labour, Greens, NZ First and the Legalise Marijuana Party.
If it wasn’t an opportunity for LabGrn to really promote themselves then the whole By election is a waste of money.
I hope the left come out strong and keep an eye on Gareth Morgan who will provided the perfect platform and unlike the National party HAS the resources to fight this by-election.
I think it’s more likely that the Nats can’t front another hiding and remain looking electable.
The turnout will be non existent however.
XRay – bang on the money. While the skewed polls (what the heck is their sampling methodology these days anyway?) still show the Nats in the lead, the voting results seem to indicate a different swing. Side-stepping the by-election gives them a little more time before the truth sinks in.
The Emperor Key had no clothes.
After 8 years of turd-polishing and sprinkling glitter on asset-sales, irreversible inequality, runaway house prices, finally the public realised that the McGehan close hypocrite, the Pike River liar, the hair-pulling dis-respecter of women, the SkyCity backroom dealer was a snake-oil salesman for zero-hours contracts, unabated immigration driving down wages and driving up house prices and changing NZ’s employment laws in exchange for an FBI raid at Coatesville.
A product of wind and piss and Crosby Textor polling, telling him what to say on every issue under Aotearoa’s long white cloud, photobombing and selfie-taking while the country goes down the gurgler. Thank God we don’t have Paul Henry on the tv as well now, telling us ‘the 5 things we need to know today’.
Camp Mother Paula and Double Dipper Bill – National better call an early election before National’s polling tops the 20.9% mark and before the public realise these two would-be emperors have no clothes, morals or social compassion either.
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