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: 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: 1:24 pm, April 19th, 2026 - 33 comments
National Party Minister Chris Bishop claims that Luxon has the full support of all Caucus members in the latest development of the Luxon coup attempts
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: 9:27 am, January 21st, 2026 - 16 comments
Donald Trump invited Christopher Luxon to join a new organisation to oversee the redevelopment of Gaza and eventually the replacement of the United Nations. How should Luxon respond?
Written By: - Date published: 3:57 pm, November 14th, 2025 - 8 comments
There are clear signs Ireland’s new President Catherine Connolly’s landslide victory has intensified efforts to undermine the country’s neutrality and neuter its aim to punish genocidal Israel.
Written By: - Date published: 6:15 pm, July 30th, 2025 - 17 comments
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.
Written By: - Date published: 2:08 pm, May 8th, 2025 - 20 comments
David Parker’s Deputy Leader ‘s speech in 2014 at the Wellington Labour Party Conference was the best I ever heard from a Labour Leader. Vision matched values in intensity and scope. Parliament now loses one of its very best.
Written By: - Date published: 8:41 am, February 10th, 2025 - 31 comments
As we approach the half-time oranges for his government, I thought I’d give Mr Luxon some feedback and a few suggestions on how he might turn things around – if becoming a real leader interests him.
Written By: - Date published: 1:47 pm, February 2nd, 2025 - 16 comments
Can Kerrin Leoni pave the way as Tamaki Makaurau’s first wāhine Māori Mayor? Open to all today from Nick’s Kōrero…
Written By: - Date published: 10:12 pm, December 18th, 2024 - 24 comments
Or about to be rolled? Word has it that Chris Bishop is waiting in the wings, as Luxon’s favourability rating drops below Hipkins.
Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, August 17th, 2024 - 15 comments
The Waitangi Tribunal has in a scathing interim report slammed Act’s Treaty Principles Bill. And Christopher Luxon has underlined his weakness by refusing to halt the bill.
Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, November 16th, 2023 - 2 comments
One has to really feel for those trying to write political satire these days. How can a satirist be more ridiculous than many of our political leaders they wish to lampoon? Case in point, yesterday’s “resignation letter” from sacked former UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Written By: - Date published: 6:10 am, November 8th, 2023 - 42 comments
Former Labour Party President Nigel Haworth: “Any decisions about leadership should follow a careful and comprehensive review of, first, the recent campaign, and second, the broader settings in which Labour has chosen to work in recent years”
Written By: - Date published: 8:02 pm, November 7th, 2023 - 53 comments
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.
Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, November 3rd, 2023 - 34 comments
Now that the dust is settling it is time for the Labour Party to think about its future.
Written By: - Date published: 4:43 pm, November 2nd, 2023 - 18 comments
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.
Written By: - Date published: 6:01 am, September 20th, 2023 - 15 comments
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.
Written By: - Date published: 12:46 am, May 5th, 2023 - 111 comments
Support for the monarchy is largely based on sentimentality. Democracies are not enhanced by feudal relics performing old-fashioned ceremonies and living in castles. These quaint traditions and displays are all rather nice, and for the most part fairly benign and harmless in themselves. But to pretend that they are in any way relevant to the modern world is absurd.
Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, February 2nd, 2023 - 71 comments
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is providing National strategists with a rather large headache.
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, January 15th, 2023 - 1 comment
It is risky to make predictions, but it is safe to assume we have not heard the last of Boris Johnson. And much like Berlusconi in Italy, the results will undoubtedly be bad both for politics and the country.
Written By: - Date published: 4:44 pm, February 7th, 2022 - 31 comments
The meeting between Putin and Xi Jinping is likely to set the geopolitical direction for the 21st century. If ‘divide and rule’ was the mantra for the US’s hegemonic rule in the 20th century, ‘unite and share’ looks like setting the tone for the 21st. Co-operation rather than competition is the mantra, and “friendship between the two states has no limits.” A truly remarkable turnaround.
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, September 26th, 2021 - 22 comments
Germany is up for Federal election tomorrow and it’s pretty important for the stability of the European Union.
Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, June 24th, 2021 - 67 comments
Yesterday National suffered further damage to its ranks when Harete Hipango was outed as the MP with Parliamentary Services resources issues and Todd Muller announced that he will stand down as an MP at the end of this term nominally so that he can eventually spend more time with his family.
Written By: - Date published: 8:37 am, May 27th, 2021 - 20 comments
Former top aide Dominic Cummings has accused UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson of being unfit for the job, and of making constant U-turns, “like a shopping trolley smashing from one side of the aisle to the other”.
Written By: - Date published: 11:31 pm, May 17th, 2021 - 35 comments
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s Blog In a nation that has suffered over 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, one may be somewhat taken aback to see the latest YouGov Poll where The Conservative Party enjoy a 15% lead over the Labour Opposition. 17 months after the Conservatives won the 2019 General Election, it would be easy to […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:28 am, April 14th, 2021 - 10 comments
Simon Bridges had added to rumours of a leadership challenge by pledging support for Judith Collins as leader “at this time”.
Written By: - Date published: 12:50 pm, March 12th, 2021 - 77 comments
Government should have announced the decision for Auckland to go down to Level 1 first thing this morning.
Written By: - Date published: 8:22 pm, February 22nd, 2021 - 39 comments
From Project Nightfall. Truth is, no government is perfect but Jacinda Ardern showed outstanding leadership in the recent years and put New Zealand on spotlight. There’s still a lot to do and she calls on her people to work with her and work together.
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, February 20th, 2021 - 41 comments
In February 2002 I was at a union-NDP conference in Ottawa watching US television in my hotel room. Back home I reported on the conference to the Labour Party caucus and stated as an aside that the US was going to war with Iraq. Helen Clark stood up straightaway and said “we won’t be going with them.” Jacinda Ardern needs to do the same now.
Written By: - Date published: 7:28 pm, December 6th, 2020 - 134 comments
Don’t expect a jellyfish to grow a spine, they just bob along on the current and keep moving, gently, slowly, kindly.
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