The Listener on the Pretenders
September 14th, 2011 at 1:00 pm by David FarrarThe Listener has done a a big five page article on Phil Goff’s leadership, and the problems around it. This is not anything out of the ordinary.
What is unusual is they have profiled the five pretenders to the throne (Cunliffe, Parker, Little, Jones and Shearer) and the five pretenders have all posed for photos for the article.
Boy talk about having your eyes firmly focused on the future.
September 14th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
So we look through Goff and the election and what is happening on the other side. So the election is going to be a heavy loss. Labour have to get their Leadership right if they are ever going to have a hope of becoming Government. It is probably more important for Labour than it is for National as Leading Labour is a far more complex undertaking that it is for the National Leader. Graham Richardson (Richo) a political insider in Australia said that Labour have to get a charismatic Leader than can appeal to the whole electorate and it is more important for Labour than the Liberals. I do not see that charisma yet in the lineup of the pretenders. Jones could do it perhaps, but he knows it and thinks it and that deeply annoys his colleagues. One more election loss might bring them to their senses.
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
While it is not unheard of to sacrifice a leader as a result of an election loss, it is rare to sacrifice the leader after the election, before the election.
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
“Goff’s leadership”
Oxymoron alert.
tvb – “Leading Labour is a far more complex undertaking”
An assertion that presumably reflects the diversity of interest that Labour purports to represent. If that presumption is correct, then it is an indictment on how remote Labour has become from its original support base. The problem that Labour llikely now has is that even if it were to endeavour to re-connect to that original support, it remains awash with the worn out refugees from the varsity common rooms who have screwed the traditional support base and turned it into the rainbow party to be everything to everyone, except of course, the 20% of the population that foot the bill.
What would happen if they had a complete clean out, got rid of everyone associated with the Klerk years, drop-kicked PC and social engineering and reverted to where they started? They would certainly have far less cats to herd.
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Leading Labour is more complex because you have to satisfy all the insiders (MPs, party power brokers, factions, interest groups etc) AND have to appeal to an outside constituency that is totally remote from the insiders.
Vote:This is what is different vis a vis National. National is a centrist broad spectrum party trying to appeal to the centre while Labour is an exclusively left-wing party trying to appeal to a group totally alien to it: the centre.
September 14th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
I know they won’t do it but they should roll Goff now.
I firmly believe some of their core supporters would see them trying to do something and would swing back to them.
In saying that, carry on with Goff, he’s a good guy
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 2:44 pm
OR…….. Has the word gone out to sit back and do nothing because none of you guys are going to get the job, we will wait for Little Andrew to get on board.
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 2:45 pm
Throne? More like the dunny plank.
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
You’d think the last thing Labour need is another union hack like Stuart Little. Talk about turning off the electorate.
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
as per tvb .. the list really is a charisma free zone .. Shearer for goodness sake
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
What a line up of drongos. the nats must be pissing themselves laughing at the thought of one of them lining up on the Oppo benches.
Just goes to show when you have no succession plan because the leader fears to have anyone who might be as strong as them in the wings.
Same happens in corporates where the CEO makes sure their underlyings arent smart enough or strong enough to challenge them
the leader falls off the perch and the Board go WTF!!!!!!
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
It’s kind of horrible watching Goff end his political career in this miserable fashion.
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
I thought this was about the Pretenders- The late 70′s/early 80s English Rock band who had several great hits until most of them died of drug related misadventure….
Instead I get Phil bloody Goff….
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 4:17 pm
lastman
Vote:And what would be National’s succession plan? Just asking to note that it’s a ridiculous proposition. No political leader ever has a plan to be succeeded.
September 14th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Joyce. The only one up to it in the current crop.
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 4:32 pm
National will inevitably do 2 terms but will they do 3? There was talk some time ago that Key would quit during a second term. We’ll see if that is true. But if he does quit, who will succeed him?
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
So much for Labours’ equality and diversity.
Vote:A bunch of rich ,white males and yes that includes Jonsey .
September 14th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
ross
refer 4:27pm
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
God the Listener must be desperate, surely this borders on electioneering. I do hope they have run this propaganda under the eyes of the commissioner, there must be some law the clowns have broken again.
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Lining up the pretenders in the run-up to an election when the current Leader is trying to convince people he is to be PM is NOT helpful to Labour surely. This is quite unprecedented. It is as if the election does not matter to Labour the real contest is after they LOSE the election. Why vote Labour in these circumstances. A major Party cannot play to lose but that is what Labour is doing.
Vote:September 14th, 2011 at 9:42 pm
And they say National is a boys club ……..
Vote:September 15th, 2011 at 5:28 am
The Pretenders. Once very popular with girl-singer, later imploded, leaving a coupled of catchy, romanticised little ditties about ‘everyman’ behind to serenade the misty-eyed romantics amongst us, who still refuse to grow up. Sums Labour up perfectly I thought.
Vote:September 15th, 2011 at 6:11 am
I simply cannot understand why anyone would think Shane Jones would make a fine leader of the country let alone the Labour Party. The guy is nothing more than a pompous git who likes wanking on the public dime.
Vote: