Written By: - Date published: 12:10 pm, June 10th, 2026 - 44 comments
Labour’s recently announced list contains a number of new impressive candidates and is clear evidence that the party is being rejuvinated.
Written By: - Date published: 1:36 pm, May 22nd, 2026 - 6 comments
The coming oil shock is not just about oil. The future is baked in, and its not good. National’s backward-looking budget will make it much worse.
Written By: - Date published: 9:48 am, May 21st, 2026 - 13 comments
Wellington is being deliberately targeted by National and it is destroying the third largest region of New Zealand.
Written By: - Date published: 5:36 pm, May 18th, 2026 - 35 comments
Voter beware – some politicians are pathological populists who cannot be trusted.
Written By: - Date published: 11:41 am, May 11th, 2026 - 76 comments
That’s Starmer’s achievement, as the local elections show. He always was a muppet puppet; his string-pullers are much more sinister.
Written By: - Date published: 7:14 pm, May 9th, 2026 - 55 comments
Does the centre left need Te Pāti Māori to win the election?
Written By: - Date published: 1:58 pm, May 1st, 2026 - 6 comments
When Ambassador Chen Mingming sent Zhang Wei in 2005 to ask me whether Winston Peters would follow government policy, I said I didn’t know but would ask. I did, and he did.
Written By: - Date published: 10:36 am, April 26th, 2026 - 46 comments
The Peters-Willis-Jones stoush during the past week underlines the importance of Labour indicating that it will not go into coalition with NZ First after the next election.
Written By: - Date published: 1:26 pm, April 21st, 2026 - 36 comments
Any time a political leader has to put their position to a vote, they become a dead pigeon. David Lange knew winning the vote didn’t end the matter.
Written By: - Date published: 6:10 am, April 21st, 2026 - 28 comments
“The plan would electrify homes, transport and industry, ending New Zealand’s dependence on unpredictable global fossil fuel markets, cutting household power bills, and building real energy security at home.”
Written By: - Date published: 3:17 pm, April 18th, 2026 - 36 comments
My hunch is that Luxon stands down as Prime Minister, to be replaced by Mark Mitchell.
Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, April 17th, 2026 - 48 comments
We need to stop slagging off the people who have the only chance of forming a centre left government this year.
Written By: - Date published: 9:42 am, April 17th, 2026 - 34 comments
National is leaking like a sieve. Either a coup is under way or a group of disgruntled MPs are busily attempting to destabilise Luxon’s leadership. Either way this is not good for National.
Written By: - Date published: 4:46 pm, April 11th, 2026 - 36 comments
An ideological reflex to an economic challenge has severe limitations by design.
Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, April 2nd, 2026 - 59 comments
reasons to feel hopeful but not complacent.
Written By: - Date published: 2:57 pm, March 25th, 2026 - 31 comments
The Government’s targeted fuel support is pork-barrelling.
Written By: - Date published: 1:16 pm, March 25th, 2026 - 5 comments
National is fundraising and for $10,000 you can buy access to sit with the PM
Written By: - Date published: 5:53 pm, February 28th, 2026 - 29 comments
Hannah Spencer’s stunning win for the Greens in the the UK’s Gorton and Denton by-election has some lessons for political strategists here as well.
Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, February 3rd, 2026 - 28 comments
Chris Hipkins, Marama Davidson, and Chloe Swarbrick speak on unity, working together while being separate partners, and the upcoming election.
Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, February 1st, 2026 - 61 comments
Current polling suggests that we may witness something that has not happened before, a one term National Government. But this may mean Labour making a deal with Winston Peters. What should Labour do?
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, January 25th, 2026 - 47 comments
Ten months to go and there is no political party currently countering the sustained rise of New Zealand First.
Written By: - Date published: 4:45 pm, January 23rd, 2026 - 59 comments
Carney’s observations of the rupture in the world order and great power rivalry are mirrored in NZ politics.
Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, January 20th, 2026 - 17 comments
Christopher Luxon’s latest State of the Nation speech suggests that over summer he has been spending more on his Spotify summer list than he should have.
Written By: - Date published: 3:24 pm, January 18th, 2026 - 16 comments
When intensely watching the orange orangutan in the White House we miss the invisible gorilla in the oval room.
Written By: - Date published: 10:22 am, January 2nd, 2026 - 8 comments
What will election year 2026 bring to Aotearoa?
Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, January 1st, 2026 - 7 comments
Happy New Year to all the readers, commenters, and fellow authors/mods at The Standard
Written By: - Date published: 12:03 pm, December 23rd, 2025 - 11 comments
Advantage gets out the crystal ball and postilated what may happen next year.
Written By: - Date published: 8:10 pm, December 17th, 2025 - 22 comments
The last poll of the political year and it is a doozie. Labour is 8 points ahead of National.
Written By: - Date published: 10:23 am, December 14th, 2025 - 13 comments
If Labour wins government in 2026, many things won’t be recoverable.
Written By: - Date published: 12:12 pm, December 7th, 2025 - 27 comments
This may be a one term National Government. But electoral law reform, the state of Labour’s coalition partners, a possible economic upturn and a change in National’s leader threaten this.
Written By: - Date published: 1:08 pm, November 29th, 2025 - 60 comments
Labour has recovered from the 26.9% vote share hiding it received in 2023, and is ready to run government again.
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