The Town Hall campaign launch underlined the startling turnaround for the party under Jacinda Ardern, and the palpable power of momentum, writes Toby Manhire. The understatement of the day came from Jacinda Ardern herself. “I can only say that when we booked the Town Hall for this event we did not expect this,” she said, … Read more
Has the Labour Party finally found the leader it’s been longing for? Simon Wilson thinks the answer just might be yes. I wanted to like Andrew Little. I thought most of the policies he presided over were pretty good. I admired that he united a fractious caucus and never faltered in his desire to take … Read more
The Spinoff’s Gone By Lunchtime trio frantically gather their thoughts following the exit of Labour leader Andrew Little, who has been replaced by Jacinda Ardern, with Kelvin Davis as her deputy, with just over 50 days to an election. Within seconds of watching Jacinda Ardern conduct her first press conference as Labour leader, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee … Read more
After a tumultuous 36 hours of terrible polls and admissions from Andrew Little that he’s considered resigning as leader, the Labour caucus meets today. What to expect? This, definitely this … Let there be no doubt about it. Andrew Little is about to resign as leader (Mike Williams), and Andrew Little is safe in his … Read more
Andrew Little poured petrol all over himself yesterday and now he’s standing there with the lighter in his hands, screaming at us, ‘Is this what you want?’ If he burns, though, who will replace him? Well, maybe he’s not screaming it at all of us, but when he said he and his senior team had … Read more
The centre-left bloc just went up in the polls, but the conversation is all about the viability of Andrew Little as Labour leader – and it’s a conversation he started, writes Toby Manhire Andrew Little’s decision to tell New Zealand he has been contemplating resigning the Labour leadership has proved a success by one metric … Read more
Pollwatch: Andrew Little admits he’s thought about standing down, after the latest from One News and Colmar Brunton shows a leap in support for the Greens. And how about that undecided number … During the 2014 election campaign, the Green Party gained a piffling 1% of media coverage, the party’s co-leader James Shaw told the … Read more
Andrew Little just talks naturally to New Zealand in the party’s first ad ahead of the election. Toby Manhire dives deep and scrawls captions on top of their captions. The National Party had its “Let’s Get Together” jingle, which we deconstructed using science yesterday. Today it’s Labour turn, with their “Fresh Approach” debut video ad. First, the video as … Read more
After the best thing about Gone By Lunchtime gets tied up with actual work, three white men finally sit down to talk politics and when and how some of them should be allowed to talk politics. Toby Manhire is joined by Ben Thomas of Exceltium and Guy Williams of televised comedy to discuss the Greens’ attack on … Read more
Pollwatch: A new poll for TVNZ is being called dismal for Labour and Little. And it is. But it’s not all rosy for National, either, writes Toby Manhire. There’s no getting around it: this evening’s Colmar Brunton poll for TVNZ is for the Labour Party, if you’ll forgive the technical language, pretty shithouse. With two and a half months to polling … Read more
It demands a Herculean effort to shift the spotlight from a scandal engulfing a government MP, but New Zealand Labour’s shonky intern scheme might just have done it, writes Toby Manhire. Campaign for Change is a pithier title, but the universe has today revealed that the full name of Matt McCarten’s initiative to deliver a Corbyn-esque youth … Read more
Wait, Jeremy Corbyn could actually become the prime minister? How might the Labour Party in New Zealand copy its British counterpart and lessen the electoral despair, asks Hayden Donnell in a dispatch from somewhere or other in the UK Read more: Grant Robertson, Judith Collins, Jacinda Ardern, Metiria Turei, Jim Anderton and more on what … Read more
Oh the drama! The suspense! The daggers at each other’s throats! While Labour Party stalwarts mop up the blood after last night’s ’emergency discussions’ to review the importance of Willie Jackson, Simon Wilson takes a scalpel to the outcome. So Willie wasn’t going to die wondering, was he? Didn’t think 21st on the Labour list … Read more
Andrew Little may have largely succeeded in uniting his party caucus since becoming Labour leader in late 2014, but he’ll need to find an extra gear or two to have a serious chance of becoming prime minister after September 23. In the third of The Spinoff’s election year interviews with party leaders, Simon Wilson talks to Little, … Read more
Andrew Little wants Phil Goff close to him in cabinet, he has revealed in an interview with The Spinoff. Not actually in cabinet, but as an important part of Wellington’s decision-making processes about Auckland. If the Labour Party gets to form the next government, Auckland can expect some big changes. During an in-depth interview with … Read more
A week-long case starring the leader of the opposition has come to an end with a mixed bag of a verdict from the jury. Observing from the Wellington High Court, Asher Emanuel was left wondering why it was happening at all This afternoon just before 5pm 12 jurors – three women and nine men – … Read more
Gone By Lunchtime meets The Breakfast Club as leading NZ politics podcasters Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire splinter desperately into millennial solidarity. In the historic first ever Spinoff Gone By Lunchtime podcast since the arrival of LifeDirect as sponsor of the politics section, we discuss a range of important topical issues, before eventually … Read more
After the Mt Albert byelection and with Labour stuck in polling doldrums, the case for Jacinda Ardern’s elevation to the deputy leadership had become irresistible. But what happens when she overtakes Little in the preferred leader polling, wonders Toby Manhire The politics gods’ simmering fury with the New Zealand Labour Party was evidenced again on … Read more
The party with the most to do after Saturday’s by-election is the Greens. But the party that came out of the weekend in the worst shape may turn out to be Act, writes Simon Wilson There’s a whole bunch of reasons why the Greens didn’t do well in Mt Albert and none of them should … Read more
Labour leader Andrew Little this morning chastised the Māori Party for its deal with Hone Harawira’s Mana Party, and dismissed the Māori Party as ‘not kaupapa Māori’. We invited co-leader Marama Fox to respond and defend the Mana-Māori deal. Here is a transcript of her handwritten response (see below). In my heart I believe that … Read more
The Labour Party has been accused of internal bickering and crisis-level disunity this week. Hayden Donnell sets the record straight. Look, there’s no denying it’s been a bumpy week for Labour. After RadioLive maestro Willie Jackson was lured into the party with a promise of a high list spot at the 2017 General Election, web sleuths … Read more
What are Labour and the Greens going to throw at National this year? Anger? “You make me very angry with your stupid policies Mr Blinglish” isn’t going to work, especially if it’s bitter or righteous or out-of-control anger. Instead, how about shame, suggests Simon Wilson in the final part of his week-long look at Labour … Read more
Is identity politics destroying the Labour Party or is that just the catchcry of a bunch of old white guys trying to get their own way again? Is Labour really a broad church party? Here’s the third part of Simon Wilson’s analysis of Labour in 2017. Identity politics Shortly before Christmas a senior member of … Read more
If Andrew Little hopes to lead the centre-left to victory in the election later this year, he’s got a lot of work to do. In the second of a six-part series, Simon Wilson sets out the task. Everyone who’s thinking of voting for any of the parties on the centre-left this year faces a central … Read more
Does Andrew Little stand a chance of leading a centre-left government into Christmas 2017? Ahead of Labour’s caucus retreat this weekend, Simon Wilson considers their task in taking on a new prime minister who is a much more formidable figure than many seem to think Bill English went to the Joseph Parker fight on December … Read more
Should David Shearer’s South Sudan appointment be confirmed, a byelection is likely in Mt Albert, signalling the departure of the last ex-Labour leader and leaving the question hanging: did the party err in knifing him? “Former leaders” are a mixed blessing for a political party – they can be weathered, wise old owls, or they … Read more
The Labour Party conference concluded with a fire-in-belly speech from Andrew Little. Toby Manhire went along to watch. While one nation in the continent of North America sucks up all the political oxygen on Earth, feeding a giant ball of pulsating fire, there is something reassuring about New Zealand Labour Party delegates gathering together on … Read more
As the polarising former Labour leader announces his parliamentary retirement, Toby Manhire recounts the most vivid Cunliffe memories – from poetry to beach pics to cats So farewell then, David Cunliffe. The New Lynn MP and former leader of the Labour Party announced this morning he won’t be standing in next year’s election. What memories … Read more
Last week Metro editor-at-large Simon Wilson hosted a Spinoff debate at Auckland’s Ika Seafood Restaurant about the future of the Labour Party. But does the party have a future at all? He’s not convinced. The Unitary Plan debate in Auckland opened another faultline in the progressive movement, just in case you didn’t have enough to … Read more