Labour Party leader Phil Goff, and deputy leader Annette King have announced they will stand down from the party leadership on Tuesday December 13, following the November 26 election loss where Labour won 27% of the vote.
The two would not seek to be on the Labour Party front bench under the new leadership. Both still hold their electorate seats - Goff in Mt Roskill, Auckland, and King in Rongotai, Wellington - so will remain in Parliament.
Goff said there were a number of members of the caucus who had indicated their desire to become leader or deputy leader of the party. They were David Cunliffe, David Parker, David Shearer, Grant Robertson and Nanaia Mahuta.
Goff said he could not rule out there would be other candidates. He said the new leadership team would get his full support from whatever position he was given in the House of Representatives.
Media speculation in the last few days has focussed on the possiblity of David Cunliffe running for leader with Nanaia Mahuta as his number two, against David Parker and number two Grant Robertson. David Shearer is considered the dark horse in the race.
Goff told media he hoped the new leadership would stick with the 'hard decision' policies announced this election campaign, including a capital gains tax, raising the retirement age from 65 to 67 between 2020 and 2033, and compulsory KiwiSaver.
Goff said he took responsibility for Labour's 27% vote in the polls on election day. He noted the 2002 National Party, which just got over 20% of the vote, recovered to within a whisker of winning the 2005 election. Likewise, Labour's 1996 vote, when it lost, was similar to its share of the vote this election (see his comments in the video above).
(Updates with video)
32 Comments
Jolly Kid and Wild Bill will be salivating at the thought of either David , Parker or Cunliffe , taking the helm of the NZ Labour Party ........ either / or , Labour are screwed with these guys .......
...... first we won the election , and now this , ...
.... lawdy lawdy , there really must be a Father Christmas !
I'm pleased to announce the 'Bryan Gould for Labour Party leader campaign' here on interest.co.nz. Bryan is an intelligent, intellectual, articulate and literate senior parliamentarian - true enough, none of these strengths are required for NZ politics, but please allow your imagination to grasp an alternative, better future legislature. He stood against Tony Blair for leadership of the UK Labour Party - think how much better a place the UK would be now if Teflon Tony hadn't got his blood smeared hands on the tiller.
Bryan even has a manifesto The Democracy Sham which investigates the impacts of globalism and corporatism on politics. Scary isn't it, a thinking politician addressing the issues in a 400 page published book. Has NZ ever seen the like?
I don't think Jonkey touched on a single issue during his campaign, relying on teacup storms and expensive RWC victories to provide enough distraction to carry him through.
Enough of ignoramus banksters, vote Bryan Gould, vote often.
You heard it here first.
"more to the left" - I thought I'd already touched on that with the adjectives I'd used: intelligent, intellectual, articulate, literate etc.
Please don't joke about Teflon Tony being better. Some things are beyond humour. I'd rather discover dogsh!t on the sole of my shoe halfway across an expensive rug than contemplate any way that Teflon Tony is better at anything.
Talking of expensive rugs - Jonkey? Rug or no rug?
Oh so funny!....not, your opinion.... well BG wasnt a PM I would have wanted or voted for.
Of course Teflon Tony was better, and no way he was thick etc and yes he proved he had his not so good points.....but more moderate and centralist, just what most voters wanted......BG was a throwback of the Michael Foot era which was rejected even at the expense of a Tory Govn somewhat too far to the right.
"Jonkey" etc get over the silly insults....happy to discuss real things in a "intelligent, intellectual, articulate, literate etc." manner.
regards
Sorry to see that your sense of humour bypass op worked so well.
His 'not so good points'; care to discuss those in some more depth (intelligently or otherwise)?
TB wasn't centralist, he was markedly more right wing than Thatcher (I suggest you take the time to read Simon Jenkins' book Thatcher & Sons - and Jenkins used to work at Tory HQ!).
British, US, and even antipodean politicians have all moved to the right over the last 20 years. Gould may appear left wing to the less than astute who haven't recognised this shift, but he was in no way of the ilk as Michael Foot. Gould probably appeared relatively left wing. That was what Britain wanted in '97 - an alternative to 18 years of bleedin Thatcherite politics.
What Gould lacked, and Blair had was charisma. That is how shallow politics has become, the cult of popularity. Rarely is an agenda discussed, nor a manifesto published. Dumbing down has succeeded.
So back to Jonkey's rug...
'steven', I've addressed the issues, you've gone all ad hominem on me for your last couple of comments. It's always a sign that you've lost the argument.
Go back to your original argument - "I love Tony Blair because..."
And, you know, if you're going to attack someone's intelligence, you ought to learn how punctuate a written sentence.
Let's step away from arguments for arguments sake...
Has Bryan Gould expressed an interest in leading Labour (sorry, sidenote - but does anyone else find it amusing that the Australian Labor Party spells Labor without a u)? His website has an article up about the next Labour leader, but doesn't actually say he is interested in the role.
On the points you two were discussing though - surely if BG was significantly better than Tony Blair - he would have been the leader of the party?
The Aussies consciously decided to use the US spelling system as a trade enabler.
BG (as I stated before lacked the charisma of Blair), but, having read The Democracy Sham, I'd say he's planetry systems ahead of any of the politicians that NZ is lumbered with.
I don't know whether BG has taken my bait yet; this is my one man campaign to save NZ from political narcolepsy.
Are you watching Bryan?
Ahh, so you're campaigning for him but so far he's not interested - or hasn't (at least) indicated his interest.
Definitely a smart guy - but he admitted himself that he would only be listened to because he was critical of what the Labour party was doing, and that he was becoming more and more of a peripheral figure.
As for BG taking on the leadership of the NZ Labour party - I think you'd find he'd take umbrage at the party and would be stabbed in the back pretty quickly.
It looks like my campaign is having results.
Ladies and Gentlemen, a warm welcome to NZ's best hope for the next general election, I give you:
Brian is more useful to NZ as an activist/commentator outside Parliament - a brilliant mind for sure - and he's very right about one thing: Labour are not choosing a Prime Minister - they are choosing an Opposition leader.
They will be dead in the water next election if Winston Peters out oppositions them in opposition this term.
An effective opposition in the House is fundamental to a healthy functioning democracy. The only thing that stopped mining in Sch 4 conservation land this last term were people in the streets - not opposition in the House.
Labour needs a credible attack dog.
Parker stands down to back Shearer:
Statement from David Parker withdrawing from Labour leadership race
“I am formally withdrawing from the leadership race of the Labour Party
“I remain committed to Labour ideals and will work hard to achieve them for New Zealanders and the country.
“There is growing support for a new face to lead the Labour Party. I intend to support David Shearer in his bid.
“I will not be making any further comment at this stage,” David Parker said.
Well don't forget, Wolly, that New Zealand's great hope and helmswoman, her magnificent majesty the Rt. Hon Chairman, Helen Clark, DOL (darling of the left) spent some time in opposition too. For a newbie, it can actually be a good place to be. One can hone ones political and management skills there without the consequences of stuffing up as the PM! After two terms in opposition, Shearer could be quite dangerous.
Actually DB I see the end of Labour close at hand....their problem is the world crisis has become so serious even the casual socialists in NZ are starting to learn that promises on the back of borrowing and heavier taxation amount to so much BS...the die hard marxists et al will never accept that unfettered promises lead to ruin..you can show them facts by the ton and they don't blink...flat earthers and Alien trippers have the same religious illness.
A wise move by David Parker . A strong lineup is slowly emerging - David Shearer as leader, Grant Robertson as deputy, Parker as finance spokesman and a prominent role for Jacinda Ardern.
If David Shearer does become the leader of the party then one can expect to see a centrist approach in Labour's polices.
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