An unusual thing happened on Friday, when the National Party proactively released public information about financial donations it had just received. The party declared that its former deputy leader Paula Bennett had just raised $1.8 million dollars in donations from a handful of wealthy supporters. And she had raised the money in just three weeks. …
Last week’s shock 1News opinion poll was the final indication, if Bridges needed it, that his chances of eventually taking back the leadership and becoming PM were slim to none. Any feeling that it was worth waiting around to see if Luxon might stumble over the next couple of years could be put to bed. …
Labour commands around 65 per cent of the female vote but it will be worried that some will shift back to National now that Judith Collins has been despatched. The question of whether National made the right choice last week in selecting Christopher Luxon as its leader was immediately confirmed by the intense reaction …
Simon Bridges is “older and wiser” but he still failed to read the room. Rather than accept the judgement of his colleagues last year, he set out to prove them wrong. Bridges rationalised his pursuit of the leadership as noble self-sacrifice. He didn’t convince many. Judith Collins stabbed him in the front before he could …
The dream run of Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Government’s seems well and truly over. The highs of last year’s historic election result and the ongoing triumph of beating Covid have quickly evaporated. This is not just apparent from the last two months of disappointing Covid management, but also from the weekend’s annual party conference, which failed …
Over the last week, MMP has been in the spotlight, given that it’s now been 25 years since the first general election was held under this proportional representation system. This has produced some important commentary and storytelling about the introduction of MMP and about the various pros and cons of how the system has worked …
It’s welcome news that the Government has announced this week that they intend to improve how elections work in this country, including fixing the political finance rules. Justice Minister Kris Faafoi has announced that major reforms will be investigated in the areas of political donation rules, promising changes that will make it “easier to see …
Simon Bridges may not have exuded authenticity when he was Leader of the Opposition, but his new book, National Identity, is exactly that according to reviewer Liam Hehir. He says “It is not a book about conservatism, but it is an honourably conservative book.” I had no expectation of being blown away by the …
What exactly is plaguing the National Party? And would another leadership change help? These are the big and enduring questions that have surrounded the opposition party since they lost power in 2017. For the best answers to these questions, it’s well worth reading the latest piece by Matthew Hooton in the re-launched Metro magazine, which …
By joining the Government, the Greens promised to give Labour the spine it needed to act decisively on housing, inequality, climate change and other pressing issues. This hasn’t happened. In fact, rather than being the progressive backbone of the current government, some allege the Greens are helping to “greenwash” Jacinda Ardern’s administration. This issue was …
Today’s New Zealand Herald cartoon shows a titanic-style National Party sinking beneath the waters while the captain orders “Full steam ahead!”. Cartoonist Daron Parton nicely sums up the general media perception about the state of the party after its annual conference at the weekend. While the party leadership are keen to convince the public they …
Running alongside Judith Collins’ “Demand the Debate” campaign in public is something of a “Demand Reform” mood within her party. There will be heightened demands for change to be made to the top of the party this weekend, when National branch delegates convene for their Annual General Meeting. The conference looks likely to be a …
Could a backlash to “woke politics” be the basis for the revival and return of New Zealand First? The Winston Peters-led party held its first post-defeat conference in the weekend, in which the main theme was NZ First’s very clear focus on culture wars issues as a way to rebuild popular support. Peters gave a …
Here’s what New Zealand First needs to do to return to power in 2023 – according to Josh Van Veen, who was at the party’s conference in the weekend. The improbability of NZ First returning to power cannot be overstated. Between 2017 and 2020, support for the party collapsed from 7.2% to 2.6%. With barely …
The National Party has a major problem with standards, especially amongst its MPs and election candidates. The latest controversies involve the resignation of their longest-serving MP Nick Smith over an employment dispute, and allegations of abhorrent behaviour by election candidate Jake Bezzant. The party has been beset by a series of scandals in recent times, …
Despite a largely hostile media and poor poll results, the Leader of the Opposition is not backing away from her campaign to expose government plans for Maori co-governance. Graham Adams assesses her strategy. Amid the chorus of media voices crowing that the latest Newshub / Reid Research poll heralds the demise of Judith Collins, …
A speech by Todd Muller at the Te Puna Rugby Club last June told voters everything they need to know about the New Zealand National Party. It was, arguably, the most coherent statement on political philosophy by a National leader in the MMP era. Interwoven with the usual platitudes about small business and family …
Speculation about the National Party’s leadership has died down, after a fortnight of rumours and overt positioning by supposed challengers to Judith Collins. She lives on as leader for a bit longer, and Christopher Luxon and Simon Bridges have been put in their place. National now desperately needs to focus on the more substantial issues …
How seriously does the Māori Party take issues of corruption and the untoward influence of big money in politics? Not very, based on how it’s handling a political finance scandal in which three large donations were kept hidden from the public. The party is currently making excuses, and largely failing to answer questions, about being …
Judith Collins’ National Party leadership is under more scrutiny, with increased talk in the media of her being replaced by brand new MP Christopher Luxon. For many commentators it’s just a question of “when” rather than “if” Collins is replaced. While others ponder whether Luxon really has what it takes to do better than the …
The leaking has already begun from the National Party’s top-secret report on their disastrous 2020 election campaign. It’s a fraught issue, illustrating just how dysfunctional and divisive things still are inside National. Trust is low, and fingers are still being pointed – even by leader Judith Collins, who clearly doesn’t fully trust her caucus. The …