If there was no threshold
Graeme Edgeler has calculated what Parliament would look like if there was no 5% threshold. It would be: New Zealand National Party – 55 seats New Zealand Labour Party – 41 seats The Greens – 8 seats...
View ArticleThe emerging Government
The Herald reports: Act leader Rodney Hide and United Future’s sole MP, Peter Dunne, are likely to get ministerial roles outside Cabinet – a deal structure pioneered by Helen Clark. I’m not very keen...
View ArticleDim-Post galore
Danyl has been busy, I do not know where to start. We have Maori Party split over Coalition Deal The Maori Party have been offered entrenchment of the Maori seats and a review of the Foreshore and...
View ArticleWhat will be the shape of the Maori Party deal?
Audrey Young speculates: The Herald understands one Maori Party MP could become an associate Maori Affairs minister in return for the party abstaining on confidence and supply votes. To get a bigger...
View ArticleEspiner to eat his words
Colin Espiner is blogging regarding his words just before the election: I’ll go further. I’ll say this: the Maori Party will not go into a coalition government with National. If I’m proved wrong after...
View ArticleNice headlines
From the NZ Herald: Prime Minister-elect John Key has promised iwi a working relationship which they have welcomed as a new era for Maori-Crown relations. It’s amazing how much one can achieve when you...
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Roughan gets it
John Roughan in the Herald: A week ago, when the votes were in and National didn’t need the Maori Party, a deal didn’t seem to me to be worth doing. How wrong I was. If this deal can be done it will be...
View ArticleNational – Maori Party Agreement
Well John Key did it, he has 70 votes to 52 in Parliament, and has forged an agreement with the Maori Party that makes Labour’s chance of winning in 2011 a lot harder. The agreement is here. Establish...
View ArticleLabour’s gap
Tony Milne blogs: I don’t expect to see much movement in Labour’s polling for at least another 12 months. The question is, can Labour do enough in the next 28 months to increase its support by the 6%...
View ArticleWhere to for ACT
Does ACT have a future after its leader was committed to trial over his 2010 Mayoral election return? Well firstly it depends on the outcome of the court case. If he loses, and is convicted, then his...
View ArticleCoalition options
The Herald reports: The latest TV3 poll could see either National or Labour forming a Government. But Labour could do only with the support of four other parties. National could do so with the support...
View ArticleShamubeel Eaqub on small parties
The Herald reports: A top economist has labelled small political parties’ policies “mad” and a serious risk to New Zealand. Addressing the Shareholders Association’s annual conference at the weekend,...
View ArticleYardley on the election
Mike Yardley writes: The maths would suggest Team Cunliffe needs to be hitting 30 per cent if there is to be any sniff of a sixth Labour-led government taking shape. Last week’s The Press Leaders...
View ArticleWrong wrong wrong
John Armstrong writes: Peters has a track record of competence as a minister. He is a realist. His party would bring stability to a governing arrangement. Stability and Peters are not words that go...
View ArticleWhat If?
Some What If questions. What if National, not ACT, won Epsom? National would go from 60 to 61 MPs and have a majority in a Parliament of 121. They are currently in the “just missed out” place on the St...
View ArticleWhat types of Government are possible
The decision NZ First has to make is not just between National and Labour/Greens but also what type of arrangement to have. Here’s some of the possibilities. Minority Government. No formal agreement...
View ArticleCould Winston sit on the crossbenches?
Stuff reports: As coalition talks gear up there are fears Winston Peters may favour a more independent option, supporting neither party, that would leave National’s programme up in the air. The NZ...
View ArticleWhy my heart wants Winston to choose Labour
I find myself extremely relaxed over what decision Winston may make. This wasn’t the case in 1996 when the tension over the decision was huge. What I have found interesting is that a fair number of...
View ArticleWinston now says not Thursday
Few are surprised that Winston has now said there won’t be a decision on Thursday. What is more surprising is the weirdness of the negotiations on the left. We’re meant to believe that Labour, Greens...
View ArticleThe case for ruling out Winston
Damien Grant writes: Bridges has two options. He can dance around the prospect of having to sup with Peters, debasing himself and his party for a chance to be humiliated, tethered and degraded for...
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