The glee so many are expressing over TOPs demise is woke twitter at its most smug and undeserved.
They gained an impressive 2.4% on their first attempt and is a reminder why the 5% threshold is actually choking off democracy, not representing it well.
Yes, Morgan & Plunkett had all the charm of car accidents involving school children, BUT their policy was courageously light years ahead of most everyone else.
I need to like you for you to be right is petty, especially when climate change demands immediate adaptation of our economy, culture and community.
I’m sorry they’ve gone; they had some good policies and impressive candidates, one of whom I knew well and much admire.
Morgan’s rudeness appears to be congenital and non-discriminating – he spreads it everywhere he goes, like some sort of reversing sunshine.
But Plunkett was the limit for me.
The person I like to think I am makes reasoned informed sorts of choices.
The real person decided that Plunkett’s gross criticisms of Eleanor Catton’s cricitising NZ were unacceptable and incredibly ungentlemanly – a Kiwi girl still in her 20’s achieved something v impressive, and another old flat white man – who could have been avuncular and glad with his praise and said, “Let us all celebrate,” shot her down, meanly.
So I decided, “Pox upon their house,” and voted Green again.
I believe Morgans intentions were good he just went about it the wrong way.
Yes Morgan made a mess of the election issue.
He had a bad group of avisors behind him, as they were so sloppy, and cost him lots. He didn’t help by his offhand comments all the time either.
the cats did not like him at all….and I always listen to what cats say
Gareth Morgan may be great with numbers in columns and rows BUT he is a lousy communicator. He is a Johnny- come- lately to the environment debate although his revelations 25 years after us bog standard greenies are of course like his fellow economist Paul Kruggman most welcome.However Morgan’s condescension and outright arrogance are the trade marks of someone who just doesn’t know as much as he thinks he does.Excellent policies unfortunately someone needed to point out to him that he has all the appeal of a dog turd.
I was going to go to their meeting here in Christchurch when they were having their roadshow before the general election but changed my mind when i learnt that Sam Morgan was supporting Peter Thiel to gain residency here.
Amongst other dodgy things he was a personal friend of John Key.
Thiel we can do without as a part time resident getting special treatment to get around the law to live here.
I thought TOP had some good policy around tax that should have been debated more.
There is room in our MMP politics for a similar party that with some charismatic leadership and a sound media strategy could harness some support.
Watch this space.
If my radical ‘FORTRESS NZ’ movement of one reaches lofty heights & manages to seize the reigns of power, Thiel’s citizenship will be revoked & his land will be nationalised &/or localised. There will also be much more ‘wailing & gnashing of teeth’ as left/right old/new liberals & all globalisation fanatics will be sternly persuaded to renounce globalisation & embrace instead; a more cooperative, holistic post-globalisation worldview that puts the greater, the environment & local interests above global domination, extreme egocentric individualism, short term thinking, greed & immediate gratification.
He may have had some good ideas, but Morgan didn’t have enough political nous and his ideas often sounded like naive wishful thinking. Like Bob Jones, he thought his money and business profile would get him over the line and, like Bob Jones, he quickly tired of the whole thing when immediate success didn’t come.
In the end he was just another political Johnny-come-lately and he will arguably be more effective in spreading his message outside of parliament.
I agree it’s a shame the party has folded. It’s arguable they pulled votes that would have otherwise strengthened the Greens in the coalition negotiations, but not by much, and its equally arguable many of the blue-green votes they attracted were not really Green votes anyway. It’s probably more arguable that like Internet-Mana before them, they helped put some new political thinking and policy ideas on the table, and contributed to the slow process of moving the overton window back from the right right, so it actually straddles some part of the left again. It’s a shame they’re pulling the plug after one run, but better to do that, and clear space for someone else to have a go, than to die a slow death by a thousand cuts over a series of unsuccessful elections.
However, as a communications geek, it was clear to me that Gareth was political kryptonite for TOP, for the same reasons KDC was for Internet-Mana. They are both wealthy, opinionated, man, who were inevitably going to be accused of buying their way into politics openly (rather than the proper way where you buy your way in discreetly behind closed doors). I agree Gareth would have been better to have done the policy work and the fundraising, maybe even run as a candidate somewhere he’s lived and is well known (and ideally liked), but leave the primary public spokesperson role of party leader to someone more … sympathetic.
Gareth gave it a go and good on him for having a range of new ideas and policies. Didn’t agree with all of it, but he got over 2% and some parties like ACT are on less than that and still being propped up by the Natz for fake representation in parliament. Gareth should hold his head up high.
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