Me and the Cunliffe Coup
I helped with the Cunliffe Coup.
Shearer simply reflected the incrementalism that has doomed the Left and Cunliffe promised more.
Shearer infamously announced 100 000 Kiwi Build homes in a calculated move to stop Cunliffe from gaining momentum and their attack on him at the Labour conference only cemented into place the resentment.
It was 2012 and the Blogs played a crucial role in forcing the leadership issue.
The Mandarins of Labour, forever scarred from the ideological fight Roger Douglas caused, didn’t just let sleeping dogs lie, they strangled them while they slept.
Cunliffe represented a re-writing of the neoliberal agenda and forcing Labour’s incrementalism out the door.
What I realised about the Labour Party however is that they prefer to control the losing team rather than lose control of the winning team.
The moment Cunliffe won, the ABCs did everything in their power to undermine him.
Mallard went completely off script and started talking about bringing back the Moa!
In the end, Cunliffe became so paranoid about the leaks and active attempts against him that he wasn’t able to function as a transformative leader.
The best thing Cunliffe did was appoint Matt McCarten Chief of Staff.
I worked with Matt to put together the 2017 strategy Labour used to win.
Cunliffe had a brilliant mind, but Labour rewards subservience to the Wellington Bureaucracy and they punish individualism.
Labour’s mediocrity and banality live forever in the shadow of the 4th Labour Government.
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A fascinating tale, from the bowels of political play, watched from the mosh pit.
But there are rules and observances to know about the mosh pit that might not have been so clear when these pollies were moving along their fault line with rumblings and groans!
WikiHow https://www.wikihow.com › Mosh-in-a-Mosh-Pit
How to Mosh in a Mosh Pit: Rules and Etiquette – wikiHow
May 2, 2025 Before you dive into the brawl, though, there are some unspoken rules and etiquette you ought to know. We’ll fill you in on how to join the pit, how to handle yourself while you’re there, and the best …
He knew NZ Labour had to recant on Rogernomics to make progress, but was not sure how to do it given Fraser House and Caucus numbers and understanding. David was a businessman not an activist. “Chippy”, Robbo and Jacinda were three of his main backstabbers.
Yep …they were depressing times.
What Cunliffe had in spades was cojones and was not going to be a slave to any part of the destructive right wing ideologies that were tearing the fabric of N.Z. apart…
Looking at the appalling state of N.Z. now, it turns out that he was right….He would have every right to say….’i told you so’.
Undermining a chosen leader of a party , which would inevitably gift the opposition a win at the next election, is not on.
Putting petty jealousies and egos ahead of the fate of many underpriviliged, and even average
Kiwis, leaves one wondering about their motives for being in politics in the first place.
Are they going in to bat for a fair society, or not!
David C possibly failed in presenting his reasoning in the right way to suit many people – so spaced out are they.
But then…
If you persist in reading on and following whatever line
they are taking
Some sort of conclusion is reached , or not as the case may be.