I could be completely wrong, but…
My hunch is that Luxon stands down as Prime Minister, to be replaced by Mark Mitchell.
Politics
campaigning
National’s incredulous plan for challenging times
An ideological reflex to an economic challenge has severe limitations by design.
Corbyn still draws a crowd – what’s new?
Zarah Sultana for one – she’s a star. Gaza for another – anti-zionism/semitism won’t work this time. 500,000 signed up in a week for a new party is impressive.
Gerrymander alert – Government running scared
You know a government is in trouble when it has to resort to gerrymander to boost its prospects. The coalition government’s decision to restrict voter enrolment is disgraceful.
SNAP ACTION – Stop U.S. Aggression
Snap action outside Ministry of Defence tomorrow 24th 1230. All welcome
Misleading Billboards Are a Threat to Electoral Integrity
Misleading the public never is good for politics.
Standing for Auckland
Can Kerrin Leoni pave the way as Tamaki Makaurau’s first wāhine Māori Mayor? Open to all today from Nick’s Kōrero…
UK General Election – the mood on the doorstep
The UK still has the First Past the Post Electoral system. Something New Zealand should have absolutely no nostalgia for. This means that, while the campaign is UK-wide, a lot of campaign activity is directed into constituencies that are deemed marginal. In marginal constituencies, a General Election brings a conveyor belt of the good and the great supporting their prospective parliamentary candidate. In “safe seats” voters get much less attention.
Anti-Muslim, anti-black, pro-Zionist: UK Labour goes for purge
I attended Faiza Shaheen’s impressive candidate launch in Chingford four years ago. She aimed to take on IDS and she dented his majority. Reselected two years ago by the local Labour Party, four days ago she was deselected by a 3-person kangaroo court from the party’s National Executive Committee.
Update: Faiza Shaheen to stand as an independent in Chingford.
Political comeback – Getting the sequencing right
A notably different approach to sequencing political comeback was on show at the VUW post-election seminar last week. Luxon put rebuilding the party first, Hipkins put it last. On policy Luxon was bottom-up and early, Hipkins was top-down and late.
Hipkins endorsed
It was never going to be anything else, but two positive emerged. All policy options are back on the table, including tax, and there is a realisation that the main task ahead is to rebuild a strong and progressive party.
Has Labour become a cadre Party? Pt 1 Leadership
In 2021, I voted against Labour’s conference proposal for midstream leadership change to be determined by Caucus alone, saying that it risked Labour becoming a cadre party for elites. A series of posts will start with why the Caucus should not rush to a leadership vote.
NZ Election result
In parliamentary politics, there are no final victories. After losing the 2023 election, Labour must now immediately focus on winning in 2026.
Understanding the New Zealand General Election 2023: Historical trends and perspectives.
From the outside, the New Zealand 2023 General Election seems both lacklustre and slightly strange. The Labour Government, having won a huge majority in 2020 is now fighting for its political life. Yet National, the main centre-right opposition party is still on average polling significantly worse now than they were when it lost power in 2017.
The Three Sly Donkeys
There are no single truths in politics and wicked problems have no easy solutions if at all.
Why stick more fingers in the donations dyke?
The latest attempt to construct a sensible political donations regime will likely again prove to be full of holes. Going back to basics would be much better. The good news is that the basics were comprehensively assessed 36 years ago by the 1986 Royal Commission on Electoral Reform. It recommended state funding.
Words of Outrage or Outrageous Action?
Do you reward rage with rage or do you ignore it and walk away quietly?
Pollwatch for Newshub/Reid Research poll, 18th May 2020
The latest Newshub/Reid Research poll is a bloodbath for National- but who are the likely victims? Pollwatch is back, this time with a model for electorate winners and losers to add onto the party vote stats.
National’s Petition is Cynical Populism
National is trying to steal show political leadership and relevance by launching a petition.
Addendum added
Corrupt US
That’s not a request by the way. This post is a kind of “confessions of a cynic who allowed optimism to creep up and have a hand in thought processes” post.
Little’s Electoral Bill a curate’s egg – good in parts
I’ve always liked Punch magazine’s famous cartoon “True humility” where the curate assures his bishop noticing his bad egg that parts of it are excellent. Most discussion on Little’s Bill has focused on the bad bits regarding foreign donations. The good bit requires all political ads online to be attributed.
Two Referendums Too Many
The referendums on two contentious issues could cloud and crowd out the General Election.
How Brexit Party won the social media battle
A review of the use of social media has suggested that the Brexit Party’s campaign was far superior to that of its opponents.
Litigation and equal pay – a history of the 1950’s equal pay campaign
Forward In 2016 I wrote the below dissertation as part of my History Honours degree at Victoria University. This dissertation explores the 1950s […]
The Pied Piper
If we’re living in a global village, is the name of the village Hamelin?
The Northcote by-election
Labour and National have both selected their candidates for the Northcote by election. Labour’s candidate is Shanan Halbert who cut significantly into Jonathan Coleman’s majority at the last election.
Stop Using the ‘F’ Word.
Because words matter.
The Man who will do Anything for Power
Deliberately pitting Kiwis against Kiwis so he can retain power may be his worst action so far. Worse than engaging lawyers and accountants […]
This is how you change the Government – electorate vote Goldsmith if you are on the Epsom roll
For progressive Epsom voters the best way to change the Government may be to give your electorate vote to Paul Goldsmith.
This is how you change the Government – Enrolments
The first of what will be a series of posts on practical steps that people can take to elect a progressive Government. In this post the importance of getting as many people enrolled as possible.
National endorses Dunne in Ohariu – Nek minnit
National’s supposedly well oiled campaign machine is resembling an episode of the Thick of It rather than a Crosby Textor training video.
Green Party campaign relaunch 1.30pm Sunday
The Green party resets its election campaign.
On winning the America’s Cup
Ad explores the implications of the Americas Cup win for this year’s election.
Dirty Politics 2017 style
Latest polls and some anecdotal evidence from the doorstep are showing a move back to the Tories in Britain. If so it may in part be due to last-minute dark and dirty personally targeted Facebook advertising to voters in marginal seats. They cost so will need to be watched later on here.
The UK elections – Has Labour got the big mo?
And in the United Kingdom the election that was meant to be a foregone conclusion suddenly is suddenly tightening.
Key gives up on us, keeps International Democratic Union.
The Herald informs us that Key is going on the speaking circuit and will go back into finance (not that he ever left). Like John Howard before him, he also intends to carry on chairing the International Democratic Union of right-wing parties. Not a surprise.