When the Nats chose Todd Muller as leader I was stunned. There’s no precedent in our two Party history for electing someone so obscure.
After six years in Parliament he’d made no mark while his pre-Parliament history was to say the least ordinary, namely a mid-level manager in a large corporation.
He came across as affable but innocuous.
Now the Party has it right. Judith, perhaps with Stephen Joyce as her deputy, would have been a devastating duo after Bill English resigned.
Much is made of the short time up until the election as a handicap. In fact it’s a plus for the Nats as new leaders enjoy a honeymoon of attention.
It’s bad news for ACT and may cost the Party two or three MPs they’d otherwise have secured.
Judith has declared NZ First out which means if they get up again then Labour will retain office. They probably will for this reason.
By Labour supporters casting their Party votes for NZ First may cost them a couple of MPs but secure the coalition government.
Labour has a long tail of lightweights and shedding some of them will be healthy for them in the long run.
In all of these shenanigans the Greens will be swept aside.
One final comment. I was initially surprised at the selection of Gerry Brownlee as the deputy, rather than a younger comer such as Paul Goldsmith.
But on further thought it made sense. He’s one of our most seasoned politicians. Furthermore, he’s still fighting fit as evidenced by his weekend pole-vaulting recreation, although he no longer does it competitively.
One thing is sure and that is the coming election outcome is now anyone’s pick.
7 Comments
“There’s no precedent in our two Party history for electing someone so obscure.”
Well, our current un-elected socialist PM springs to mind.
This also happens in Australian State politics where powerful factions elect a “cleanskin” (some minor player without the troublesome political baggage that high profile politicians accumulate) to do their bidding as Premier. Morris Iemma in NSW is an example of this.
That Muller resigned so quickly is surprising given that he worked in the PM’s Office during Jim Bolger’s second term as PM so he should have known what he was getting himself into.
While Paul has a good head on the shoulders, he’s not leadership material for the time being until he gets that killer instinct which showed itself lacking when he backed down over the ‘stick to your knitting’ comment.
With Winston off the campaign trail for the time being, while he has his hemorrhoids removed, he won’t beable to hypnotise the old folks like he used to but then again he only really needs to perform in the three weeks running upto an election and that’s all he’s got to do for the baubles of office of which he distains. I think NZ First is dog tucker.
Now back to the sticking to your knitting. There is a growing electorate who don’t know what the saying means. It’s likely the Jacinda voting sect don’t know either. While Collins has got it, the call to action (a dog whistle to those able to listen), she maybe too old school for Gen X, Y, Z and the Millennials.
If you recall Jacinda was a nobody except for her two odd years at the head of the International Union of Socialist Youth and she got them over the line if only through the betrayal of Peters.
Election 2020 is still wide open.
Judith Collins Leader, Gerry Brownlee Deputy
It had to happen, Judith is a polished media performer who will present National’s credible policies and plans well.
And here is the kicker, National has a history of achieving their policy goals. Won’t that make a nice change?
At this point in time ( 2pm Wednesday) there is a poll on Newshub…’ who do you prefer as PM. Ardern or Collins?
Collins=56% Ardern 44%. About 475 voters so far. Yes, its the ‘honeymoon for JC but in saying that Newshub is usually so biased towards ardern this is a telling poll…so far.
Judith Collins does speak extremely well. She comes off as natural, and is well paced and very clear. She might make Jacinda look like a bit of a….twit, by comparison (I hope that’s not too mean, Bob?)
I agree it’s all up in the air though. Judith Collins’ persona–er, curiously changed for the better now that she’s in her comfort zone–is what the country is going to want. She looks like she’s about give the country a feeling of security and grounded focus going forward. But two months is a very short period of time, of course. It’s one hell of a climb for National. Interesting!
…oh, if ACT loses out it’s because they deserve to. They should have shown some balls reform policies, rather than playing so safe to protect what they had. They will probably have to be much more aggressive *now* though. I would like to see Brooke get in.
We all know that National just wasted the best part of 3 years, but now have finally got it as right as they could, with JC ably aided by a very savvy GB. I believe they now have a decent shot at winning the election, not just doing well. It will be very much dependent on WP being swept aside by his tediouly loyal superannuitant brigade – they shouldn’t forget his betrayal to them at the last election based purely on a personal vendetta against the National Party and their unveiling of WPs double-dipping into the super. Interesting election. Roll out your big guns Judith.
Judith Collins, a huge win for the English language, both spoken and written.
Education is and always has been her advantage.
So now New Zealand and the National Party if you are that way inclined have someone who fits the role and who will if chosen as PM represent us very well internationally.
I believe also that National have more expertise and experience to extricate us from the Covid-19 economic worldwide impacts. .The excesses of ” Helicopter Money ” by the current coalition government needs to stop. I do not believe that they have the expertise to reign us back in and it should not be a PM popularity contest election .It might be Judith Collins or Jacinda Ardern as PM after the election.
It’s too serious for all our futures on that premise alone.
It’s which Party will do the job that we elect them to do and do it to a high standard..
Look after New Zealand into the immediate and future years by expertise in management of the economy .The benefits to all will be there as a matter course with that strategy.