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May 22, 2020 1:07pm by David Farrar

Muller wins

Todd Muller has been elected Leader of the National Party and Nikki Kaye the Deputy Leader.

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Prince

And the winner is…..
David Seymour.
78 5
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May 22, 2020 1:09pm
- Michael NZ
  
  I really hope so.
  National gone much more centre left.
  left centre left perhaps with nikki.
  
  4 6
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  May 22, 2020 1:42pm
- krazykiwi
  
  Yes he is. While personally ambitious individuals set reason, history and personal values aside in the rush to secure votes ‘in the centre’ (aka the left of centre), ACT and Seymour have remained true.
  
  I have never been a member of a political party, and decided yesterday that I would make a decision and action it following Nationals caucus vote.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:52pm
- Isobar
  
  Potentially, Unless National see Seymour as a threat and run a serious campaign against him in Epsom. As popular as act are, there is no way they would get over 5%.
  
  Supporters knowing that National wanted to win back Epsom, not wanting to waste their votes would flock back to National.
  
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  May 22, 2020 3:20pm
krazykiwi

Game over, National.

You have capitulated to the Labour/Media consortium’s campaign of depict and destabilisation.

You did not have the wisdom to see that for was it is, and so you do not have the wisdom to govern.

You will sit by impotently while the worst government in New Zealand’s history is given carte blanche to further destroy our country.
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May 22, 2020 1:09pm
- Clyde
  
  No doubt that the National Caucus is a deeply divided one. As normal, there will be the fronting up by Muller and Kaye to say that the caucus is united behind them for the hard work ahead etc etc etc and then Bridges and Bennett saying bravely that they support the will of the caucus. But behind the public fluffery is a giant schism. Interesting to see where Goldsmith ends up as well as Woodhouse. And just how the scramble for a high enough place on the list to avoid missing out goes. Lots of blood yet to come.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:22pm
  - peterwn
    
    All thinking has to be about the future. Thinking about the past will achieve nothing and indeed will lead to worse outcomes.
    As I have said many times here before, the overarching objective of a political party is to get into power and if in power to stay in power.
    As things stand, there is a lesser objective now – to win as many seats as possible in the next election. Having 40 or so MP’s and diminished Parliamentary Services funding would be a complete disaster and would assure Labour a third term as in 2002.
    Caucus infighting would mean 40 or so seats and would be self defeating even for those who remain in Parliament after September. Caucus by all means can have another round of blood letting as long as it is after the election, just as there was in 2002. Therefore there is no room for anything but a fully united Caucus speaking with one voice.
    Todd and Caucus have another big problem – to re-cast policies and the campaign – things have changed from even a few months ago. Jacinda had the same issue, but little time to do it, but it worked!
    
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    May 22, 2020 2:26pm
- krazykiwi
  
  *ug* .. deceit.
  
  6 2
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  May 22, 2020 1:22pm
- Im Right
  
  BUT..KK, if you were working in a private company and the CEO/MD was putting your major contract in jeopardy and if that contract is not renewed you along with most of your workmates will be out of a job and you had a vote on that CEO/MD to still be the boss…how would you vote?
  It’s not just about the party, it’s about at what %age do you lose your position.
  The graphs DPF put up the other day showing the leaders around the world and their approval rating are soaring!, this isn’t Simons fault totally it’s just this Covid-19 has helped the current leader, I don’t doubt if Simon was the leader his rating would be just as high as the PM currently enjoys.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:34pm
- Jack5
  
  Capitulated to the “Labour/media” consortium, says Krazykiwi. That the consortium is now trumpeting it was a “bitter contest” underlines its part in the coup to elevate Mr, Mr … uh Mr Muller – is that it?
  
  National also capitulated to the blowhard Matthew Hooton, State Radio’s “spokesman for the Right”.
  
  Centre-Leftist Nikki Kaye as a deputy leader and a Bolger protege as leader? It has to be a shuffle to the Left.
  
  With police hobnobbing with gangs and vigilante road blockers, with firearms lovers smarting from the panic after the mosques massacres, with votes and Ph.D. education for convicts, Simon Bridges’s background as a prosecutor might have come in handy on these vote-winning issues.
  
  ACT and Peters are back in play.
  
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  May 22, 2020 2:42pm
- Gazza the Giant
  
  Not going by the over whelming support on the radio , and the news tonight , I think you will find he is not a leftie at all , I bet he changes his political agenda now he is in the lead , he spoke very well at his speech, handled the media well , and got much support for the speech, and again on the radio , I was gobsmacked with the public support with one speech
  
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  May 22, 2020 6:37pm
tas

I don’t know much about Muller. But I trust that the National caucus has made a good decision. Let’s hope he can get it done in September.
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May 22, 2020 1:10pm
- Ceejay
  
  Crucial thing will be to look at who voted for whom.
  
  If Muller picked up a lot of votes from members lower down the food chain in caucus, clearly prompted primarily by fears for their own survival, that will not be a good sign at all for his chances of pulling the party together.
  
  And I don’t fancy his chances.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:23pm
  - krazykiwi
    
    Yes, I’ve been wondering who backed him. I emailed a number of the more senior National MPs recently, and all of them indicated agreement with my hypothesis, which I took as tacit support for Bridges.
    
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    May 22, 2020 1:44pm
- Unity
  
  I hope we can trust the caucus. Not knowing anything about him I have today learned two things that I don’t like and that is he has called our country Aotearoa and he has worked with Shaw on the bogus man-made climate change nonsense. Two down ticks from me. Let’s hope he isn’t pro all the racist nonsense overtaking this country. Still we have to give them both a chance. At least he has management experience so let’s hope that’s a plus.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:24pm
  - krazykiwi
    
    He and Kaye are both worshipers at the altar of Climate Change™. A disaster for truth and reason having either of them anywhere near policy creation.
    
    11 4
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    May 22, 2020 1:48pm
    - Gravelroad
      
      Yeah, well I hope “ the women” like Mr Muller.
      According to the know-alls on newstalkzb it was because women couldn’t relate to Mr Bridges and they didn’t like his voice and how he looked and spoke.
      Not so much about policy or governance – just what you say and how you look when you say it is the important thing.
      Ms Ardern’s legacy.
      
      4 0
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      May 22, 2020 5:12pm
      - Gazza the Giant
        
        Well , he is getting unbelievable support on the radio , and most people are saying we need him so we can get rid of Cindy , unbelievable
        
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        May 22, 2020 6:39pm
  - septic skeptic
    
    I guess the first words out of his mouth at this press conference will tell us a lot. How much Maori language?
    
    8 0
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    May 22, 2020 1:53pm
    - Gazza the Giant
      
      He nailed it , and the comments on the radio were all about him and how great he is , not one mention of the Dizzy Ardern
      
      2 0
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      May 22, 2020 8:44pm
  - Philview
    
    We need to look at where we are now as a country. Jacinda makes policy up on the hoof with no evidential analyis. She was just 10 years ago promoting communism. Most of the media are under her control. We have Maori nationalists being given free reign to set up road blocks and occupy land. She is well on the way to bankrupting the country with no accountability. I could go on. Even if Todd Muller leans a little bit left I am getting behind him.
    
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    May 22, 2020 2:32pm
  - wazza85
    
    I am watching the speech today I have not heard him say Aotearoa? Did he say it today or somewhere else?
    
    I am not happy with the ongoing effort to rename our country, for some reason we don’t need to follow the treaty on that case.
    
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    May 22, 2020 3:05pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  I know him well, and have rated him ever since I heard him speak as a potential candidate in 2014. Smart guy, works hard, rising star, great business pedigree and speaks very well. Not shouty like the last guy.
  
  Give him a chance, he’ll surprise a few.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:36pm
  - Michael NZ
    
    we’ll see.
    Will the Maorification of New Zealand continue.
    Opening us up to many more immigrants and refugees.
    More of a Police state.
    More Climate change.
    Socialista taxes
    Lack of Private Property rights
    denigration of Landlords
    Protection of our basic rights and free speech.
    
    8 0
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    May 22, 2020 1:46pm
    - Rachael Membery
      
      Where was he on guns?
      
      4 0
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      May 22, 2020 2:48pm
      - Jack5
        
        Good point Rachel.
        
        Seymour, of ACT, was the only voice calling for a measured, rational review rather than a rushed ban, and Seymour must have been heavied into being out of the Chamber and avoiding the solo vote that would have meant the usual rational review would have been made.
        
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        May 22, 2020 3:15pm
- septic skeptic
  
  Apparently he has a glowing endorsement from Bolger. Enough said? So the inexorable slow march to the socialist utopia continues.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:49pm
  - Jack5
    
    Ah, Kiwibank Bolger. Real champion of private enterprise.
    
    4 1
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    May 22, 2020 2:44pm
Odakyu-sen

That happened a lot faster than I expected!
23 1
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May 22, 2020 1:10pm
- thirteenstars
  
  That’s what the captain of the Titanic said.
  
  The irony. All those deck chairs rearranged.
  
  16 3
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  May 22, 2020 1:21pm
Blackface Twin Reverb

3 more years of Cindy folks.
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May 22, 2020 1:10pm
- infused
  
  would have been regardless imo.
  
  National have no Jacinda at the moment.
  
  Let’s be real, it’s all about personalities, unfortunately.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:35pm
- chaos
  
  Actually no, more chance of a win now because people were turning away from Simon, he just couldn’t connect with the public
  
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  May 22, 2020 3:25pm
[moderated]

I don’t know Todd Muller from a bar of soap. He’s got a lot of work to do. Kaye out shines him by a long way so far.
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May 22, 2020 1:11pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  People who have seen them both in action chose Muller. Think we can be satisfied that they are in a position to know.
  
  Niki beat Cindy in left leaning Auckland Central twice before Cindy gave up in 2017.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:37pm
  - [moderated]
    
    You could argue the same when they picked Bridges.
    
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    May 22, 2020 2:39pm
- Rachael Membery
  
  We will be watching with interest, less whinging from the right now hopefully.
  
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  May 22, 2020 2:51pm
AgainstTheFlow

The King is dead.

Long live the King…
12 4
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May 22, 2020 1:12pm
- Chris R
  
  To quote “The Who”…..”meet the new boss, same as the old boss!” Yawn, yawn yawn and yawn again.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:53pm
lazza

First Bridges now Muller.

Dohh!
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May 22, 2020 1:13pm
- krazykiwi
  
  Yes. Having worked hard to get the knife into Bridges, the media now start on Muller. That the National caucus couldn’t see this is a blight on their collective wisdom.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:16pm
redqueen

Good for him. Someone with actual management experience sounds good to me.

I’ll be interested to see what the policy direction looks like.
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May 22, 2020 1:14pm
- Blackface Twin Reverb
  
  Please. All Cindy has to do is point her finger and say Pale, Stale, Male and he’ll be consigned to obscurity by the so-called media.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:22pm
  - Bobba Fret
    
    His biggest battle is against the media, not Cindy.
    
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    May 22, 2020 1:54pm
    - Wired-one
      
      How absolutely ridiculous is that.
      
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      May 22, 2020 7:47pm
  - redeye
    
    Scomo, Boris, Trump or Biden. The world is not as woke as they would have you believe.
    
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    May 22, 2020 2:41pm
- 3-coil
  
  redqueen – “actual management experience”?? Muller couldn’t even manage to write his CV properly…had to go back and correct it when a couple of “inaccuracies” were pointed out. Ugh!
  
  Agree with krazykiwi: the National caucus blinked – plain dumb. Shows they never had the wisdom and unity to govern in the first place.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:52pm
- freethinker
  
  Policy will be the issue.
  
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  May 22, 2020 3:33pm
gorse

Well we will see, I guess.
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May 22, 2020 1:14pm
Jigsaw

More climate change hysteria and another three years of Labour and the damage that they will cause.
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May 22, 2020 1:14pm
septic skeptic

I am a bit disappointed. But I don’t know much about Muller. That in itself isn’t a good sign. It won’t make a difference to my vote anyway. Seymour has that locked in barring some major error.
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May 22, 2020 1:15pm
- Michael NZ
  
  yes for my party vote.
  National didn’t speak up for our rights or freedoms.
  They never said no to 250,000 law abiding Kiwis getting shafted by Nationals Aquiesence.
  They have never said what they will reverse.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:49pm
Nigel Kearney

The transformation is complete. The choices are now Red Labour, Blue Labour, and ACT.
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May 22, 2020 1:16pm
- septic skeptic
  
  I really do think that a genuine right wing alternative leader would get massive traction. Someone prepared to give a big FO to the MSM and politically correct pundits that infest NZ.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:26pm
  - Michael NZ
    
    Skeptic not right wing, but honestly centre
    
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    May 22, 2020 1:50pm
    - Rachael Membery
      
      Only because being on the ‘right’ is now deemed as tainted.
      
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      May 22, 2020 2:55pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Well, such a leader would get massive traction at Kiwiblog…
    
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    May 22, 2020 2:24pm
- krazykiwi
  
  Quite so. Also represented as:
  
  ☭ Rabid socialism – Green
  ☭ Extreme socialism – Labour
  ☭ Closet socialism – National
  ✔ Centre right – ACT
  
  Watch as Muller moves well left of centre with the promise of all sorts of big-government largess in a desperate bid to become PM.
  
  We’re forked.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:29pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    Still it’s always better to have the more right-leaning option in power
    
    4 1
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    May 22, 2020 1:38pm
- ngatimozart
  
  Maybe maybe not. But it’s all about the swing voters and getting them can make the difference. It ain’t over until the fat lady’s sung and that’s not for 4 months. I don’t have a problem with the Muller Kaye ticket at the moment. I’m a centre right voter anyway.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:34pm
- mjw
  
  If ACT were a useful partner for National, they would have picked up a heap of voters when National support cratered. That didn’t happen. The voters fled both ACT and National.
  
  So if ACT are not part of the solution … what are they?
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:37pm
  - freethinker
    
    MJW – C B Poll shows ACT 3 MPs, hopefully heading for 10
    
    3 0
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    May 22, 2020 3:37pm
- Jack5
  
  Bang on, Nigel.
  
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  May 22, 2020 2:47pm
SpencerArnold

Well, Todd is tall and bald, that’s two things Jacinda can’t lay claim to.
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May 22, 2020 1:18pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Has a penis
  Is Catholic
  Is married
  
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  May 22, 2020 2:25pm
  - Overworked
    
    He does appear to be that rarest of animals, a catholic who doesn’t try to force his faith’s rules onto others.
    
    Time will tell.
    
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    May 22, 2020 3:02pm
  - Jack5
    
    Jeez, Milky, are you suggesting this was a Vatican-backed coup using Doolan Bolger to promote his Doolan protege? ?
    
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    May 22, 2020 3:27pm
Aunty

Depending on how things go over the next couple of months, I might for only the second time in my life vote for a party other than National. I might give my vote to NZF to keep Labour honest, as I consider the current labour party to pose a serious existential threat to New Zealand and its future, and the future of everybody who lives here
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May 22, 2020 1:19pm
- Prince
  
  Question: If Labour/Greens can govern alone, and it is highly likely they will, why vote for NZF.
  NZF could quite possibly be out of Parliament, and even if they scrape back, why would Labour (and the Greens) go into coalition with them ?
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:43pm
  - Faroffsound
    
    NZF might well lose a percentage of their votes to Labour anyway because the over 65’s will be so grateful to Jacinda for saving them from the Wuflu.
    
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    May 22, 2020 3:27pm
- crash
  
  Unless Muller changes things up, a vote for Winston is a vote for another unstable Labour-led government (ie the deputy-PM comes from a party that 90% or more party-voters did not support).
  
  NZF is a vanity party and as such its worth is vastly less than the clout it has.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:51pm
- Ian Hawthorn
  
  That is a silly idea. NZF can’t even keep themselves honest.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:52pm
- septic skeptic
  
  On the other hand I will regard the outcome as a success if Cindy wins and NZF is consigned to history.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:56pm
- Bobba Fret
  
  Don’t be silly. No one should ever vote for NZF again after last time.
  
  10 1
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  May 22, 2020 1:57pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Did you mean to write ‘no one should have voted for NZF, ever’?
    
    3 1
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    May 22, 2020 3:07pm
- Ceejay
  
  As things stand NZF won’t even be back in Parliament, and if they do miraculously manage to cling on to the cliff edge won’t be anywhere near the government and certainly won’t be keeping Labour or anyone else honest.
  
  Jacinda won’t want Winston within a million miles of her second-term setup.
  
  About the only thing we do know for certain at the moment is that a vote for Winston is an utterly wasted vote.
  
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  May 22, 2020 2:18pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Well that’s as close to an admission of insanity as one gets on Kiwiblog. Ask Chuck Bird how voting NZF ‘to keep [anyone] honest’ worked for him.
  
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  May 22, 2020 2:29pm
- Sponge
  
  Honest and NZ First should never be used in the same sentence.
  
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  May 22, 2020 2:41pm
- Isobar
  
  Aunty – i suspect a whole heap of National voters will now be pondering the same action. If the polls do not show a path to victory for national in the coming weeks. Watch the votes head NZF way.
  
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  May 22, 2020 3:25pm
Ceejay

OK time for a bit of mischief…

What chance Winston bails from the Government this afternoon, Ardern loses a no-confidence vote in Parliament with the Nats, NZF and ACT voting against, and the GG calls on Todd to form a new Government?

Yeah outlandish proposition of course. But there might just be a few cautious eyes watching Winston from various angles right now.
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May 22, 2020 1:19pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Damn that would be funny. Unlikely, but who knows, Winston is dog-tucker the way things stand at the moment.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:40pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  As nice as that scenario might be, I believe the GG’s only option if the Government doesn’t resign after a no-confidence vote is to call a general election and/or ask the existing government to stay on in a caretaker role until a general election.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:42pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    No, the governor-general’s role does not extend to making such a decision. Such a no confidence vote would be followed by the leader of the opposition demonstrating the the governor-general that he could form a government instead. A general election would only follow should it become clear that no one could form a new government.
    Since no party, apart from Labour, would benefit from an earlier election, no one will be moving a vote of no confidence.
    
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    May 22, 2020 2:33pm
- septic skeptic
  
  That would see Labour get 80% of the seats in the next parliament. I would probably vote for them!
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:58pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  Agh no. If the Government lost a confidence vote, the PM would be required by convention to advise the GG to dissolve parliament and to issue writs for an election.
  
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  May 22, 2020 2:06pm
Jules99

I’m quite shocked at how much power we’ve given to the media. I’m stunned.
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May 22, 2020 1:20pm
- SmokerGuy
  
  Come on his preferred PM rating has been shit ever since he was elected. I’ve not had a single person tell me they like him and think he should be PM.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:44pm
- Isobar
  
  Under that logic, you would agree that the Media were in Keys pocket when he was in charge.
  
  It is too simplistic to blame the ‘media’. It is the failure of the opposition to look like a credible alternative government that is the issue here.
  
  Hopefully Mueller can start to make that change, to do it by 2020 is doubtful, to do it by 2023 – now that is very possible.
  
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  May 22, 2020 3:30pm
Rachael Membery

Simon didn’t deserve that but the leader is the leader.
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May 22, 2020 1:20pm
- Ian Hawthorn
  
  Simon is a very capable guy – a good team leader and a good speaker in the house. But he is too measured reserved and cool and he has never connected with the public.
  If Jacinda has taught us nothing else it is that charisma – that weird ability to connect with the public so that they think they know you as a person – is the absolute number one requirement for a party leader.
  I don’t know if Muller has it either – the fact that I have never really heard of him up until now isn’t a good sign. I think Nikki Kaye has it though.
  
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  May 22, 2020 2:05pm
lazza

“Alone in the Wilderness” … enjoy?

https://g.co/kgs/PGp66m
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May 22, 2020 1:22pm
thirteenstars

2002, here we go again.

And that’s a good outcome. Hopefully National will fracture irreparably and we can have a more robust set of options as new parties are formed from the wreckage. Long time coming.
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May 22, 2020 1:25pm
stewmar

Good luck Todd, now announce policies, start campaigning and come out with all guns firing. It shouldn’t be hard to unsettle Jacinda who has decimated the economy ruined countless thousands of lives of good people she has thrown on the scrap heap of unemployment and shutdown countless small and medium sized businesses
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May 22, 2020 1:27pm
Wired-one

Ffs people give Muller and Kaye a chance, they’re extremely competent. Do you want another term of Labour? Supporters support through thick and thin, not just when the times are good.
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May 22, 2020 1:28pm
- SmokerGuy
  
  I agree, people on here are throwing tantrums even my daughter wouldn’t be able to top haha
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:42pm
- Blackface Twin Reverb
  
  Ditching a leader who hasn’t had the rub of the green 4 months out from the election is supposed to inspire confidence?
  
  That’s the sort of BS the Labour party does.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:47pm
- Rachael Membery
  
  Agreed but there is nothing wrong with a bit of angst first.
  
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  May 22, 2020 3:09pm
- freethinker
  
  Wired One – trouble is we know nothing about Muller, and Kaye is reputedly not liked within National, but I will hold fire until I see what they are made of and especially if they formulate policies to their Natural support base – Small Business, Landlords, Farmers and now Firearms owners Start promising something to reverse the clowns discriminating policies against these groups and I will give support, reverse special rights & money to “The Special People ” and reverse Labours lousy legislation and I may even party vote National instead of ACT.
  
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  May 22, 2020 3:49pm
  - Wired-one
    
    Well I do know Todd and I’m telling you all those whinging now will be singing his praises in a month. He is in the same intelligence category as a Key, Joyce or English but also is a great communicator. Trust me, he is more electable than Simon. Please my fellow voters of the right, give Todd and Nikki a chance, that’s all I’m asking.
    
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    May 22, 2020 8:09pm
Monique Watson

And Nikki Kaye is attractive to whom? She’s past it.
10 20
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May 22, 2020 1:30pm
- SmokerGuy
  
  Nasty!!!
  
  5 3
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  May 22, 2020 1:42pm
- Tricati
  
  And as closet ‘greenie’ – FFS is this the best we can expect.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:43pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  If only she were as attractive as you, it’s true.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:43pm
  - SmokerGuy
    
    Haha yep!
    
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    May 22, 2020 2:52pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  What about that Paper-Bag thing my partner talks about?
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:47pm
- [moderated]
  
  Auckland Central for starters. Was a safe Labour seat, now a safe Kaye seat.
  
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  May 22, 2020 1:48pm
- old skool reactionary
  
  Context is everything. For a politician, especially female, she is out in front, equal to Princess Cindy.
  In fact that is what Nikki is there for, no?
  
  A blue Princess Cindy!
  
  They don’t have to be movie star beauties. Just look good on the front page of the Woman’s Weekly with a bit of photoshop to whiten the teeth, eyes and soften the wrinkles.
  
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  May 22, 2020 2:41pm
  - RPP
    
    Who cares if Nikki Kaye is unattractive? Not a single NZ politician is.
    Well, Steven Joyce is the exception, but still
    
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    May 22, 2020 3:04pm
Ford Prefect

So that hands Labour the next election. If the polls are correct they will govern alone and we will move to a high tax, socialist economy. House prices will tank, unemployment will get over 15%, there will be more hand outs to the islands, UN, and anyone that will make JA look good, capital projects will stop, and businesses will fold.

What is the wise thing to do if you have all your life here and your house is about to lose a lot of its value. I assume the stock market will not be reliable, therefore Kiwisaver will stop being a good investment. Perhaps an investment property when the banks start foreclosing on mortgages, but Labour hate landlords so is it wise to be one.

Emigrate?? I dont really want to, but I also dont want to watch this country destroyed.
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May 22, 2020 1:35pm
- Rachael Membery
  
  Then stay and help save it.
  
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  May 22, 2020 3:07pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  You will see a tide of capital and talent moving to Australia.
  
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  May 22, 2020 3:17pm
- Isobar
  
  To be fair Simon had already handed the election to Labour. This is just part of his handy work.
  
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  May 22, 2020 3:32pm
SmokerGuy

I don’t know why people are so anti Muller, he seems to have all the credentials required to lead National. Good business experience, good speaker. Has worked in the politic area so understands how it works. Why do people think the world has come crashing down now he is leader? Especially with Bridges having persistent low approval ratings since he started.
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May 22, 2020 1:41pm
Kiwi Investor

I’ll repost this here.
This is an unbelievably stupid decision. As DPF analysis highlights, National were ahead of Labour pre-covid and look at what he has had to endure.
Knee jerk reaction to a couple of poll results.
I am indifferent to who leads the party, what I would like, is if people elect a leader stay with them to the election. I lived in Australia for 8 years, and in that time there were 6 PM. The public don’t like this carry on as it seen as self-serving by a small group of power hungry idiots, the whole caucus is tainted.
Lastly, Winston was right, great, we’ll never hear the end of that. This is an own goal.
As Buffet says, it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. Sounds about right for the current National Party i.e. since Helen Clark.
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May 22, 2020 1:43pm
Manolo

It’s amazing how much to the left the Nats have shifted when a MP like Mrs Kay can become their Deputy Leader. The progressives are winning the battle of Labour Light!
9 3
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May 22, 2020 1:43pm
lazza

Muller- Shearer-Shearer-Muller

Spot any difference?

A similar fate …”awaits”.

Oh and BTW …. thanks for f’ .. all Toddie.

Blood spilt like this takes forever to rinse.
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May 22, 2020 1:46pm
Tasman Terror

If Muller wins we will be replacing a Prime Muppet with a Prime Minister.
2 1
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May 22, 2020 1:52pm
MrTips

Media: “Who are you going to support?”
Maggie Barry: “Todd Barclay”
Media: ??
Maggie Barry: ” lol…sorry…… Todd Muller”

Kinda sums it up really.
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May 22, 2020 1:53pm
chukar

Don’t know much about him but

Is he in the same church as ex PM Bolger?
3 1
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May 22, 2020 1:54pm
MrTips

Well, did Matthew Hooton take it badly? His Twitter has disappeared: https://twitter.com/MatthewHootonNZ
4 0
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May 22, 2020 1:56pm
Tony Stuart

Muller has one really big advantage. He was highly respected in his roles at Fonterra and Zespri, where his jobs required him to make big decisions with significant implications.

Since 2017, New Zealand has been paralysed by what I call “government by working group”. Muller’s ability to make the big calls without having to kick them down the roads for months or even years will immediately differentiate him from the PM.
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May 22, 2020 1:56pm
- RPP
  
  He should attack hard on that alone. When the flak comes, and it will, keep going and increase speed
  
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  May 22, 2020 3:07pm
- Steve Todd
  
  […] will immediately differentiate him from the PM.
  
  And from John “kick the can down the road” Key.
  
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  May 22, 2020 3:59pm
Steve Todd

As I said in General Debate on Saturday, 2 May, in response to oldfella’s question, “And if not Simon, who?”—

“there really is only one person who could step up, successfully – Todd Muller. He knows his stuff; he speaks / interviews well – he’s not a boof-head; and he seems to me to be a thoroughly decent chap. In short, as National Party MPs go, he ticks all the boxes.”

Todd Muller is your quintessential Nat; a centrist politician and all-round good, solid guy, whereas Simon has been a right-wing young fogey since university days – and is an austerity politician. Had he been successful in September, he and Paul Goldsmith would have overseen a right-wing agenda that, with hindsight, would have made Ruthanasia look like a picnic – and our society would have been very much the worse for the experience.

Muller is now in the position that Keith Holyoake was in, in 1957, and Mike Moore was in, in 1990. He will ensure that the Nats will not be wiped out on 19 September, and will therefore be in a position to come back stronger than ever in 2023. He could well be prime minister for the following 9 or 12 years.

In my inconsequential opinion, from a Nat point-of-view, the right decision was made today.
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May 22, 2020 2:02pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  “Had he been successful in September, he and Paul Goldsmith would have overseen a right-wing agenda that, with hindsight, would have made Ruthanasia look like a picnic ”
  
  Really? While that would have been excellent, I don’t see it in any of National’s stated policies.
  
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  May 22, 2020 2:09pm
  - Steve Todd
    
    Ha!! Of course you don’t see it, Benedict. It would have been sprung on us in the 2021 Budget, à la 1985 and 1991.
    
    Fortunately, we have been spared the misery that “austerity” policies would have imposed upon us. You would have been alright, pal, but what about the have-nots?
    
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    May 22, 2020 3:44pm
- Nukuleka
  
  Steve: You simply confirm what many on this blog fear- that a Muller win will define National as nothing more than Labour-lite. Dear God, what is wrong with being ‘right- wing’ and having conservative, traditional values? With Nikki along for the ride it will be simply more of the same old left wing progressive pc bullshit.
  
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  May 22, 2020 2:32pm
  - trout
    
    Nukuleka; Because having right wing conservative, traditional values is unfashionable. And being unfashionable in the modern world is a vote loser. Conservatisn is an anathema to the MSM.
    I listened to Mullers ‘acceptance’ speech; it was excellent (and his diction is also excellent). He put his finger on the Ardern government problem; be graciously commended her on her Covid performance and then pointed out that labour has a ‘few heavy lifters and a bunch of empty seats’ and has failed to deliver on virtually all their targets while in office. His business nous is well recognized; this is going to be all important in the post Covud recovery; the Nats are going to have to pick apart Robbo’s lolly scramble.
    
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    May 22, 2020 3:25pm
  - Steve Todd
    
    Nukuleka: Many people have accused Labour(-led) governments of being National-lite. Indeed, Michael Cullen once stood before a “business breakfast” and informed his audience that “this government was not National-lite.”
    
    There is nothing wrong, per se, with “being ‘right-wing’ and having conservative, traditional values” (although such values certainly make me “gag” on it), but surely, all that is happening (now) is clear evidence that there is insufficient appetite for such views to be reflected in our governments. Power is derived from the centre, and all that.
    
    To even begin to get the sort of (coalition) government you want, ACT has to get up at least to around eight or 10 percent, and that is never going to happen.
    
    Sorry, Nuks, but you’re just going to have to continue waiting until the tide turns in your favour – and that, too, is never going to happen. Why? Because you yearn for a bygone era that will never return.
    
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    May 22, 2020 4:33pm
kevn

but, but, has Muller got the ‘mongrel’ in him?
He needs to shake the throned one.
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May 22, 2020 2:14pm
kris

And so National moves further to the left (Kaye would be as much at home in Labour as National) – there are fewer and fewer differences between them and Labour.

If Nationals core party vote base is only 30% or so, with these changes I expect it may slide even lower, as conservatives see the lack of critical mass and shift their vote to Act or New Cons (or even protest vote Winston First), in a similar scenario to Labour pre-jacinda.
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May 22, 2020 2:18pm
bruceavon

Great first speech from Muller. An actual orator. Controlled the media well. Sense of humour. Forward focussed, positive. Also. “I am not interested in opposition for oppositions sake” totally agree. Let’s all get behind him eh? I don’t think it’s necessarily a negative that he’s unknown. A clean slate. I can see the polls rising already. Great.
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May 22, 2020 2:22pm
- Jack5
  
  Of course National will rise in the next polls. They would rise no matter who was leading it.
  
  The latest polls reflect Jacindarella at the height of her Wuhan flu PR. She has been at the peak of her popularity.
  
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  May 22, 2020 3:02pm
  - Rachael Membery
    
    I am not so sure about the ‘daddy will be home soon’ to the children. Not anytime soon until after the election me thinks.
    
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    May 22, 2020 4:30pm
OECD rank 22 kiwi

National stacking all the cards against itself.

Three more years of Cindy and an economic depression the likes of which New Zealand hasn’t seen in almost one hundred years. Feels overload ahoy.
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May 22, 2020 2:27pm
mikenmildagain

Twelfth leader of the opposition in 20 years.
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May 22, 2020 2:27pm
Justitia

The challenge for Muller and Kaye is to get people tuning into what National has to say. Given the media’s bias it won’t be easy. But if he can present a sensible and reassuring persona as the wheels start to fall off the economy before everyone’s eyes while Jacinda and her no-hopers freak out, he may just pull it off.
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May 22, 2020 2:27pm
David_in_Bali

I have read all of the above comments, pro and con. I think what most of the comments miss is that National looks disfunctional and not united in the same way Labour was before Jacinda was made leader. Because of this, and the election not far off, National will continue to languish in the polls.
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May 22, 2020 2:38pm
backster

The media especially Soper and Du Plesis will be celebrating their triumph. This caucus selected Bridges over the top of the national people who wanted Collins to lead, now they choose Muller over Bridges. Left over Right. It might save Winston even though he is a born again Socialist who condemned Capitalism at the last election. The defeat will be heavy, Communism entrenched.
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May 22, 2020 2:55pm
Jack5

Muller was the target for Chloe Swarbrick’s “OK boomer” retort.

Guess that settles his nickname for the media.
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May 22, 2020 2:56pm
- Steve Todd
  
  Yes, she got that one wrong, didn’t she? He’s a Gen-Xer; born 23 December 1968 – four years after the last Boomer was born.
  
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  May 22, 2020 4:47pm
Critical Thinker

Well at least Todd Muller is definitely a FAR better communicator than Simon when he’s in front of a camera:

https://youtu.be/gBP2ga3_rIk?t=300
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W-wS51xee4
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/full-video-new-national-party-leader-todd-muller-speaks-after-defeating-simon-bridges-in-leadership-battle
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May 22, 2020 2:58pm
emmess

Not happy with Mr Nobody getting elected.
But I just watched some of his press conference on the Herald site and he does come across very well, I must say.
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May 22, 2020 3:00pm
Australis

Looking at Wikipedia bios, both Muller and Kaye are standout individuals with track records strikingly better than any member of the Labour/Greens front bench. They both present well and are eminently electable.

The only catch is that they are both on the left edge of the BlueGreen faction of the party. The easy solution to that is a party vote for Act.

If 10% of National voters switch to ACT, NZ will have a senior/junior Coalition on the centre-right, such as Australia has enjoyed for decades.

National should retain plenty of electorate seats but would have a very short list. It’s over to the Party (not the caucus) to make sure the people heading that list are in the right faction.
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May 22, 2020 3:33pm
- chaos
  
  10% of national voters won’t move to act
  
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  May 22, 2020 6:42pm
Inandout

Jacinda should be an easy target for Todd, her shallowness and downright ignorance in the financial area is her greatest downfall. Simon was continually sidelined by Mallard when he asked Jacinda questions; I doubt Todd will bend as easily.
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May 22, 2020 4:54pm
BlairM

I know very little about Todd Muller, so any comment on the wisdom of this decision would be inappropriate. What I do know is that when Bridges was elected, I commented that National must like opposition, and want to stay there. So this is all very late to reverse a bad decision, but better late than never. I suspect that, but for the Jami-Lee Ross debacle, it may have happened much earlier.

As for rumours that Muller is of the Left, I’m resigned to that now. That’s just a reflection of National’s current caucus. It is what it is. Join the party and stand for selection as a candidate if you don’t like it.

For those who are mad, sorry guys, Bridges was shit. You know in your hearts he was. I agree this is probably too late to change. But come on. The guy needs to go back to what he’s good at, which is jailing crims.
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May 22, 2020 4:56pm
Inandout

Blair, under Little you don’t jail crims, hell half the time they aren’t even charged.
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May 22, 2020 5:30pm

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