National, whether its MPs realise it or not, has shown the voters what utter brilliance they possess: a brilliance to engineer a situation where they have brought themselves down and, by association, the party. They are now in a sad and sorry state. Those involved in the debacle might be competent in their portfolios but that is not what they will be remembered for. They have portrayed themselves as lying cowards with huge egos. When voters go to the ballot box in November, that will be the picture that they have in their minds. They will be asking themselves what exactly National stands for. That is a very pertinent question.
When a party shows itself to the country to be totally unprincipled the situation is dire. That is the view voters now have of National: a party made up of gutless people, some of whom have egos too big for their boots. This isn’t just about the stupidity of organising a coup so close to an election but also the way it was handled. If you organise a coup and then let egos get in the way of the outcome you wanted, you look gutless, stupid and as lacking the courage of your convictions.
How National can recover from this I don’t know, but the ‘back to business as usual’ line from the prime minister is something no one believes. ‘We are a united caucus.’ No one believes that. ‘I have the total support of my caucus.’ No one believes that. Why isn’t he releasing the voting numbers? The previous ones that were released showed a 27-22 split. That is far from a ringing endorsement and I doubt much has changed. Half the caucus don’t want him either as leader of the party or prime minister, which gives a lie to his utterances.
This dreadful situation is compounded by the lack of time to turn things around even if he wanted to. I’m not sure he does. He has a ‘my way or the highway’ approach that might work in business but it is not a strategy suited to politics. The art of being successful in politics is to take the people with you, including your caucus, not foist your agenda on them. This authoritarian mindset is the cause of his caucus problems. If he’s not prepared to change his position then he should go. Continuing down the path he is on risks further damaging the party.
An example was his out of the blue announcement on Newstalk ZB of a possible referendum on MMP. He hadn’t communicated with his caucus or canvassed the views of the wider party. ‘I’ think we should have one. ‘I’ think it’s a good idea. It’s always the royal ‘I’. He might be the leader but he ha to get consensus or at least alert his caucus before making these announcements. Otherwise it’s ‘foot in mouth’ material. It’s easy to see where the problems lie within his caucus. His MPs, when faced with questions of was it actual policy gave different answers. Who can blame them?
He lacks political nous, his communication skills are lacking and he consults the mirror when seeking advice. His negatives outweigh his positives; if he had an ounce of honour he would fall on his sword. His might believe he is the answer to the country’s woes but the reality is his personality deems him to be unsuitable for the job. As Trump labelled Starmer as ‘no Winston Churchill’, so Luxon is no John Key.
The way Chris Penk was set up to do the numbers by those wanting the job and then made the fall guy is beyond disgraceful. These self-indulgent idiots couldn’t have done more damage if they had tried. How do they think the voters are going to view that? People are not going to vote for a party that displays that sort of disgusting behaviour. Those involved need to take a long hard look at themselves. They need to reflect on the damage they’ve done to the party, to a man who walked from his career because of them and how they have pretty much inflicted the same consequences on themselves. It’s hard to get one’s head around the folly of it all.
National is now going into the election very much on the back foot. Whatever they say in the election will be seen to be coming from a discredited party. To make matters worse, the controlling liberal wing of the party is in direct conflict with the party’s conservative voter base. This is not going to end well.
The party must get back to its founding principles. The liberals in the party must realise that National was founded as a conservative party and its voter base still holds those values. This divide cannot continue and the party must display a more conservative approach to its deliberations and the legislation it brings before the House.
Luxon is not the man for this job. It has to be a conservative MP who believes in and displays conservative values. National cannot let itself be beholden to the liberals in its ranks. If it does it will continue to bleed support to its coalition partners. That is something it can ill afford to do.
David Seymour said that this was ‘much ado about nothing’. For National, this is much ado about EVERYTHING: their behaviour, how they reconnect with their voter base, and how they get back to being a party that stays true to its conservative principles. That will take dedication, commitment and a certain amount of courage. Don’t hold your breath.
