Democracy in action

Labour's Leadership Race

Last night we attended the Hustings meeting in New Plymouth to hear the four candidates for the Labour Party Leadership.

Here is the Daily News report of the meeting:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/10713411/Taranaki-unsure-on-Labour-race

Leadership is a fascinating idea. What are the essentials for a successful leader? There seem to be as many answers to this question as people who ask it.

Certainly these four people are all good contenders.

If you look at paper qualifications, CV and so on, you have to put David Parker high on the list. He has run the largest law firm in the South Island, led business start-ups from Go to success, and been an effective minister in a previous Labour Government. But he gives an unsettling impression of holding back, of being a little diffident, which doesn't impress some of those who are looking for a forceful, decisive front man.

Nanaia Mahuta comes across as a person of the people. She hails from Huntly, after her childhood education in the UK; she knows what it is like to deal with the problems of living in a regional industrial centre. She carries the important contribution of being a woman, Maori and, in the old cliché, she calls a spade a spade. Because of the high proportion of Labour Party members who have Maori or other minority (eg Indian) backgrounds, she has a claim for support as leader.

When Andrew Little stands up to speak, he immediately takes control. And he kicks off his speech with a joke, which has the audience relaxing. He, too, has an impressive record: former President of the party, former EPMU General Secretary who knocked heads together and drove a fractured organisation to become the most effective union in the country, and the only contender who has talked to every one of his caucus colleagues. Later on his voice tended to turn hoarse, and he sometimes drops it so low as to be inaudible at the back of the conference room.

Grant Robertson is the candidate who claims to represent a new generation of leadership, and certainly something has to change if Labour is to return to its former status as an effective political force. With Jacinda Ardern as his preferred running-mate, he should certainly appeal to a wide cross-section, both inside and outside the party. Friendly and personable, he presents as an ordinary bloke, although I think his brain and past achievements are far from ordinary, and I voted for him last time. Don't write him off in the future, even if this time round the popular vote goes to one of the others!

Whichever party you support, leadership is a key issue. Do you favour a Muldoon-type tyrant or a Bolger-type friendly Kiwi person? I have always preferred the clear thinking of a Bill English to the sloppiness and vagueness of a John Key. Obviously lots of people disagree. Key clearly strikes a chord with them.

Some day I'll post my conclusions on this conundrum, if I reach any in  this lifetime!