No Epsom electoral petition
October 30th, 2005 at 11:37 am by David FarrarLabour have announced they are not going to do an electoral petition in Epsom.
It is interesting to note that Labour are assisting Winston Peters with his electoral petition in Tauranga. I am amazed they are doing so, and can only assume it is part of a secret coalition, sorry executive government, deal.
I’ve chatted to many Labour people about Tauranga before the elction and they all agreed Peters losing was in the best interests of stable Government. Because a Peters without Tauranga would have no safety net, and hence be far less likely to play silly buggers and bring whomever is in Government down, as falling below 5% would mean oblivion.
Now I can not work out how on earth Labour can win by assisting the electoral petition. If it is sucessful then Clarkson will go and his replacement will be either Peters or the new National candidate (Labour have said they will not stand).
Now if National wins any by-election then all that has happened is an MP who can potentially embarass National (‘left testicle’) is replaced by one who won’t be as likely. And if Peters wins, then Labour will have a coalition partner who is far more likely to rock the boat as he has the security of a seat behind him.
Going back to Epsom, you can ignore what Williams says about Labour wanting Hide to stay in Parliament. As Rodney says, if this was the case Clark wouldn’t have told people to vote National to keep Hide out.
No tag for this post.
October 30th, 2005 at 11:47 am
National would still have to win without Bob Clarkson. But Tauranga are over Winston, and these elction jack-ups do not impress voters. I certainly do not think Labour would contest the by-election but the general election would depend on good behavior. But we are a very long way from Bob losing the petition. Williams is just a liar frankly. He just finds any spin he can to justify what ever position the Labour Party take.
Vote:October 30th, 2005 at 12:28 pm
And they wondered why Peters didn’t go into coalition with National?
Vote:I suppose Labour are rewarding Peters support, who could blame them for helping him.
As far as Rodney Hide is concerned, he is only keeping the seat in Epsom warm for a Blue blood Tory candidate.
Next election Hide will be history, just like his party.
October 30th, 2005 at 12:40 pm
Cadmus:
I’m sure the Labour rank-and-file would like to know why their party president is spending his time “assisting” Winston Peters’ lawyer. Perhaps there’s more significant work to do a little closer to home – like keeping his job, reforming the list and candidate selections to get some real quality “new blood” in the caucus etc.
Vote:October 30th, 2005 at 12:43 pm
Og course what Williams doesn’t say is that Labour doesn’t have a spare hundy to pursue this, they had to steal money from the public to get re-elected.
Vote:October 30th, 2005 at 1:04 pm
If Peters wants to stand in a Tauranga by-election won’t he have to resign as a list MP first? If so that would bring the next NZF list candidate into parliment. Then, if Peters loses, he’ll be out of parliment. Wouldn’t that be great.
Vote:October 30th, 2005 at 1:30 pm
Its the Labour way, sling the mud make inuendo but don;t actually prove anything or follow through and give Rodney the right of reply.
Meanwhile it’s Labour that ARE getting slam dunked on this very issue.
Still sanding in front of those parlimentry crests Jordan?
Still sending out electorial pamphlets paid for by the tax payer but NOT showing the crest?
Open and honest government.
Tui ad.
Vote:October 30th, 2005 at 1:31 pm
And there goes Cadmus with the old “ACT will be gone next time” line.Sorry buddy but after witnessing the shambels that has come about after the election just gone I expect Kiwi voters will not want to be dicked around again as they have been here.Act will attract back a lot of support and possibly some new interest as well when people weigh up just who stood by their word and were upfront ….and who didn’t and made them look fools….mmm? After all, the way Labour screwed over their buddies the Greens won’t be forgotten in a hurry will it Comrade?
Vote:October 30th, 2005 at 3:18 pm
“Next election Hide will be history, just like his party.”
Just like the past election. And the other three elections before too. Predicting ACT’s demise has been done for some time now, but it’s far harder to kill them than people expect. They were universally written off this year and survived, so I find it hard to believe that a prediction three years in advance about their survival is going to be all that believable.
The scenarios for Epsom in 2008:
1) National doesn’t run a candidate in Epsom or doesn’t campaign heavily for it. Rodney wins no problem.
2) National decides it doesn’t like ACT and campaigns heavily against Hide. Rodney’s still popular enough to retain it.
3) National decides it doesn’t like ACT and campaigns heavily against Hide. Rodney loses, but gets ACT over 5%.
4) National decides it doesn’t like ACT and campaigns heavily against Hide. Rodney loses and gets under 5%.
If he doesn’t change a few things and get a good message out ACT may seem too irrelevant in the future. I’m confidant that ACT will be reformed, especially in the wake of the drop of MPs.
On Winston, Tauranga hardly seems relevant anyway. Assuming that he does overturn Clarkson, and manages to win the seat, he then has to win it back in 2008, on the back of unpopularity from the past term as well mostlikely. Or possibly retiring from politics anywya.
Vote:October 30th, 2005 at 3:55 pm
Nicklemn, James, Rodney Hide gave it his all and won Epsom, good on him, he deserves it.
Vote:I however believe next election Hide is in a similar place to Jim Anderton, election before last. Labour have always put a weak candidate up so Jim wins, Labour new how MMP worked, getting Anderton & Robson 2 Labour door mats. For the price of 1 Labour candidate. National dosen’t know how MMP works, and I believe will go after Hide with a true blue Tory of some standing in NZ. If Hide can convince National that Roy and Himself make 2 he stands to stay, but at what price for his ACT policy?
What did Anderton get out of Labour this time around…0… Hide will only be a doormat if he can convince National to keep him next election.
I somehow doubt Nationals next leader will want Hide or ACT. A swing back to the centre will be on the cards this time around to grab enough voters to form a govt.
Hide & ACT will stick out like a boil on Nationals backside, and every one knows the best way to rid a boi… Lance it!
October 30th, 2005 at 5:47 pm
Does any one from National care to comment on these appaling comments by “The Eradicator”. Comments like these just turn off young urban liberal voters like myself. How can anyone claim that protecting people from discrimination is “Political Correctness gone mad”. I think modern medical thinking about transgender people would conclude that for most people it is isn’t a “choice”. And nether mind the fact you can’t discriminate on religious bassis which is deffinantly a “choice”. The sooner National drops this mainstream crap the better (and yet again Helen has shown she has no scruples when it comes to power)
—
Mapp said the gender identity bill was a classic case of political correctness and he was pleased it would not proceed.
“It is taking things to a ridiculous extent. I’m not suggesting open slather on discrimination, but why do we need a special law for transgender people?
“It’s a choice issue – that’s a choice she made.”
New Zealand did not need law for “that sort of thing” because laws should uphold the rights of mainstream society, not be “captured by a minority”.
Vote:October 30th, 2005 at 7:46 pm
Guido, I think the question we have to ask ourselves is this – Where does it all end?
There are many things I might like to do in life, but I may be discriminated against because I am not tall enough, short enough, good-looking enough, smart enough, qualified enough or rich enough. Discrimination may not be fair, but just how far do you go? These may be some extreme examples, but when you have laws prohibiting discrimination on gender, race, religion, etc, there is a reasonable level of protection for the great majority of people.
We cannot prevent discrimination for every minority in every situation. Thats reality.
Vote:November 1st, 2005 at 7:34 am
“National dosen’t know how MMP works”
I think they do, much more than people think. Labour thinks they understand it by simply being able to cobble together a Government out of more parties. That doesn’t make it any better for them this time round. Really, what would you have got if you wanted National and voted NZF or UF? Labour. And ACT was always a risky shot and quite frankly it’s not up to them to bail out everyone. You don’t want to have too much from the minor parties.
Vote: