More Labour voters deserting

Another leftie friend told me last night that she now thought she might hold her nose and vote National. Now a month ago she was absolutely adamant she would vote Labour, but the sticking up for Winston is just a step too far for her.

Simon Collins in the NZ Herald has also been out interviewing a mammoth 600 people on their thoughts, and finds many Labour people deserting:

Shane Wairau is ready to take the plunge into a new era without a Labour Government.

At 34, the former Labour voter is now married with a 1-year-old son and working as business manager for a tourist bungy jump operation in Queenstown.

After years of loyalty, he’s disillusioned.

And

Even lifetime party supporters like 60-year-old tour driver “Hoppy” Hopwood, interviewed at Cape Reinga, are straying from the faith …

“I usually support Labour, but I’ll probably go with National. With a bit of luck we’ll get rid of the Prime Minister.”

I say don’t leave things to luck!

… two Invercargill retailers in their 50s who give their names as Caroline and Heather feel abandoned by their party. …

“My father is 90. He’s been a Labour man all his life. He is lost. He doesn’t know who to give his vote to.”

Heather, whose only child has also gone to Australia, says: “I’ve been a Labour person all my life and I’m absolutely lost. It really hurts me and I almost feel like not voting – and I used to go out and canvass for Labour.”

Both life time Labour voters.

The mood for change sweeps from low-income suburbs such as Manukau’s Clendon, where 18-year-old hairdressing student Ashley Kumeroa is voting National because she resents paying taxes for people who are “fit enough to work but decide to stay home”, to comfortable Half Moon Bay, where 31-year-old mother-of-two Janet Corbett is switching from Labour to National.

I wonder if she read about Mr Mohan ysterday who has been unemployed for five years and voting Labour for their generous welfare policies?

“Everything’s going up. No one’s getting any wage increases,” says Onehunga mechanic Graeme Wedding, 54, who is voting National for the first time since the Muldoon era in the 1970s.

“I always thought Labour was supposed to look after the working people, but they’re not. I think they could have given us some relief on our fuel instead of taking a percentage of the increase.”

Or some bigger tax cuts!