Nat Vote: And the Loser Is ….
The Nation holds its breath as the dullest political leadership race in a generation snores to a close. Who will win by losing? Who will lose by winning? Who cares?
UPDATE: It’s Mullertime!
UPDATE: Bennett dumped!
politicans
Simon Bridges
Who wants to lead the National Party?
Tomorrow the National Party caucus meet to decide on a leadership challenge mounted by Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye. Both parties obviously think they have the numbers. Which MPs are misleading them?
Dead man walking
The media is reporting there will be a vote of no confidence in Simon Bridges’ leadership at next week’s National caucus meeting.
Mark Richardson for National leader!
Michelle Boag thinks that Mark Richardson should be the next National leader after Simon Bridges. Here at the Standard we wish to endorse this proposal.
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.
What does National do in Epsom?
Last night’s Reid Research Newshub poll result will be reverberating through National’s caucus. And raises the question, do they gift Epsom to ACT and maybe get a right wing MP or do they preserve every seat they can for themselves.
Jacinda is not like Muldoon
National has decided to play politics with Covid 19 and is opposing the Government’s attempt to pass legislation to secure level 2 arrangements. And has made the extraordinary claim that Jacinda Ardern is just like Rob Muldoon but with slogans.
Bloomfield and the empire strikes back
Dr Ashley Bloomfield has responded to allegations by Simon Bridges that the government has suspended the Official Information Act and the Emergency Response Committee has made multiple requests for information from the Ministry that it is waiting for by advising publicly there are no outstanding requests for information.
Parker gives Bridges a lesson in constitutional law
In a Facebook Live event David Parker has schooled Simon Bridges on basic principles of constitutional law. And it appears that Bridges demand that legally privileged advice be handed over is heading to the Privileges Committee.
Transmission Gully PPP
I’d agree with what No Right Turn says..
“The entire project looks to be an expensive failure. Rather than transferring risk to the private sector, it turns out to be the usual scam of privatising profits and socialising losses.”
Bridges pulls a stunt
Simon Bridges threw two stunts yesterday, firstly threatening to try and summons senior Public Servants to publicise confidential legal advice and then by attacking Dr Ashley Blomfield for not answering emails quickly enough despite the existence of a pandemic which the country appears to be handling pretty well.
UMR’s bombshell poll result
A leaked UMR poll result puts National on 29%.
His work here is not yet done
Former Prime Minister John Key has said that under current conditions employers are going to sack 20 per cent of their workers even if the company is doing well and that employers should never waste a crisis.
Leak, leak, leak, leak …
Tova O’Brien has reported multiple leaks of a Nick Smith email which was highly critical of Simon Bridges.
Guest post – Bridges is done, who can save National?
Guest post from former Labour Staffer Clint Smith on the similarities between National’s current predicament and what happened to Labour in 2011 and 2014.
Will National roll Bridges before or after the election?
It appears that the National Party is engaged in a bitter discussion of when Simon Bridges should be rolled, not if. Will it be before or after the election?
Who will be National’s leader?
Will Simon survive? Or will Paula and Mark team up against him? Or will Judith somehow manage to persuade the caucus that she is the only chance they have of retaining their seats?
Stay tuned …
BBQ time for National
If the current dip in National’s polling continues then a number of their electorate MPs face the loss of their seats and an increasing battle for a shrinking number of list seat positions.
When Bridges’ social media goes wrong
Simon Bridges’s Facebook post criticising the extension of lockdown level 4 has been met with overwhelming opposition, including from people who are clearly National Party supporters.
Matthew’s Magic Numbers
Matthew Hooton has tweeted a series of numbers. They add up to good news for the Government.
UPDATE: Curia Polling reckons it’s even better for Labour!
Two Bubbles Bridges’ Big Day Out
Simon ‘Two Bubbles’ Bridges feels he’s entitled to flaunt the rules because he’s, ahem, essential.
Burning Bridges
One of Simon Bridges’ caucus supporters has raised the possibility of a leadership coup. Let’s hope not, people!
Relentless negativity
Simon Bridges has been criticised for his relentless negativity towards the Government’s urgent Covid-19 budget response and for playing politics as usual at a time when unity is required.
The right become socialists as Covid-19 bites
The right, elements of which have thought the best thing to do to the state is weaken it that badly that they could then drown it in a bathtub, are rethinking and now realise that a well resourced, active and engaged State is actually a life saver.
How does the government handle a pandemic induced world recession?
With the world’s economy in turmoil and infection rates continuing to surge the responses of different countries to the crisis shows markedly different results. And the issue could be the determining issue of this year’s election.
The politics of hand washing
Simon Bridges thinks that getting people to wash their hands and removing unemployment stand down periods is tinkering but that National’s still unreleased economic policy will solve the crisis.
Bridges thinks the solution to Covid 19 is tax cuts
Simon Bridges thinks that tax cuts are the best way to address financial stress caused by businesses by the Covid 19 epidemic. Even though businesses under financial stress will be paying little if any tax and a tax cut would have little if any effect.
National’s new conservation policy was previously announced in 2014
National has announced a “new” policy that it previously announced in 2014. And that has already been implemented.
National is going low on law and order issues
Over the past week National has shown a willingness to take really base aggressive positions on law and order issues for political advantages no matter what principles are at stake. And at the same time show a complete lack of understanding of the issues that are involved.
National has nothing to be afraid of
National has absolutely nothing to worry about the prosecution of four people for carving up a donation to the National Party.
SFO: The National Party Four are Named
Name suppression has been lifted for the four National Party associates charged by the SFO.
National received two dodgy $100,000 donations
The SFO charges laid in the District Court reveal that it investigated not one but two dodgy $100,000 donations to National.
National’s big economic policy announcement
Simon Bridges has claimed that the average wage earner in the country pays almost 33c in the dollar in taxes. Spoiler alert, they do not.
National is not counting its chickens for granted
National will announce today that tax cuts will be a major policy plank for the next election.
The problem with opinion polls
This week the Reid Research Poll predicted a Labour Green government and the Colmar Brunton poll predicted a National ACT government. Which one will be proved correct?
Fact checking National
Simon Bridges has claimed that a GDP growth Jacinda Ardern used was wrong even though it was the figure released by Statistics NZ.