End of year debate

John Armstrong covers the end of year adjournment debate, and especially the very strong performances of Key and English. At gallery party immediately after it, many journos also commented on the strong end to the year, and how they are looking a very formidable combination. Of course time will tell. Some extracts from Armstrong:

Such an offer would have shown that Labour is still good on its promise that individual ministerial responsibility means something.

Instead, Labour's reluctance to hand National's new leadership an end-of-year ministerial scalp won out.

As English observed, that was symbolic of Labour's year. The party could not bring itself to do the right thing – be it paying back the money it rorted from taxpayers to fund its , or expelling Phillip Field – because of more pressing short-term constraints – the dire state of the accounts, and the need to hang on to Field's vote in Parliament.

National, in contrast, was positively fizzing as John Key matched Cullen bluster for bluster. Rarely have National risen to their feet in such spontaneous jubilation to applaud a .

But the killer contribution came from English, who with Key, are the only real contenders for the title of Politician of the Year.

Helen Clark and Cullen miss out for their seeming inability to realise that they were defending the indefensible in the row over election advertising.

year the title goes to English, partly for the sheer political machismo and guile he displayed in securing both National's deputy leadership and the shadow finance portfolio – an outcome good for him and the party. He also wins for making the long journey back from the humiliation of losing the leadership to once more being one step removed.

The net effect of the Key-English combination meant the morale of National MPs could not have been higher when they walked out of Parliament on Wednesday. Their unspoken New Year message to Labour contained just two words: game on.

Game on indeed!