By John
Christie has picked up on Matthew Hooton’s list of non-entities as possible leaders of the National party. No, they’re not you’ll be screaming at me. To us here no, but to 95% of the public the names Hooton put forward wouldn’t register. Maybe Paula might due to her having been a minister with a certain flamboyance and Mark through his weekly ZB breakfast slot. The fact is if any of them were registering with the public in a positive way their names would be appearing in the opinion polls.
Let’s cut to the chase here. Agonising over MPs who have not caught the public’s attention is a pointless exercise. In politics these days a leader needs a mix of charisma and ability. Look at Scott Morrison in Australia, ‘ScoMo’, he has something of the John Key persona about him, good to have a drink with down at the pub. Look at Trump, the Donald, a true love-hate character but one that can enthuse people and take them with him. Look at the man most likely to be the next PM in the UK, Boris Johnson, bumbling Boris, but if the polls are correct, he could lead the Conservatives out of chaos to a landslide election win.
I put it to you that if we were voters in any of those countries we would be agonising over those three names. Trump wasn’t supposed to win, neither was Morrison and until now nobody thought Johnson could either.
Now let’s look at the possibilities Hooton put up. It could be argued that they all have varying degrees of ability but where is the charisma? Paula yes, but it’s not the sort to register with the public. Simon, if in fact, he has any charisma, is in the same boat. It’s not registering with the public. They don’t like what they see. The only reason Simon’s in the polls is because he’s the leader of the party. When he goes you won’t see his name in any polls.
If National is going to have a change of leader prior to the next election it has to be Judith. Even if I didn’t like Judith, which I do as most of you have probably worked out, she is the only logical choice as she is registering with the public. I believe that if she became the leader she would be in double figures in the next poll. Like Morrison, Trump and Johnson she has the ability to do the job but a personality that not everybody likes.
It’s a simple matter of a change to Judith and a better chance of winning the election or leave Simon where he is which means they won’t have trouble finding their seats when parliament resumes after the next election.
Forget the rest.
