The New Labour Leadership

 DAVID CUNLIFFE ELECTED 

 NOW FOR A REAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN

The Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party - David Cunliffe

 After an intensive campaign for the Leadership of the Labour Party, fought between three strong, ariculate and well informed candidates, David Cunliffe, Grant Robertson and Shane Jones,  the membership of the New Zealand Labour Party elected, on first preference votes, David Cunliffe to the position.

The election results from the NZ Labour Party website

The result was, as predicted by the real constituency, decided by considerations other than the personality and sexuality politics posited as being "real" by the self appointed, self interviewing pundits like Patrick Gower, the ill informed and offensive right wing bloggers (much referred to by the opinionistas) the Bar room eaves-dropper Chris Trotter and the increasingly politically schizoid opinionistas writing for The Herald.

The Party membership voted for David Cunliffe for several reasons:

1) They wanted a Leader who has had long time experience in The House as a back bencher and as a Cabinet Minister with an established solid reputation.

2) They wanted a Leader with a demonstrable ability to organise and motivate a supportive campaign team that could transfer that organisation and expertise to the wider Party and thus reactivate the campaigning machine that Labour had honed and developed during the late 1970s and through the 1980s.

3) They wanted a Leader who was seen and heard to clearly articulate and present the policies and ideology of the Party without equivocation on the radio and television channels and whose comments would and could not be "misunderstood" by the opinionistas who dominate the NZ media.

4) They wanted a Leader who could communicate and connect with the membership across the spectrum - from the ordinary branch members, from the members representing the different ethnic groups, from the members in the affiliated Unions and on to the wider public.

5) The wanted a Leader who will not allow himself to be beaten down by over bearing, self opinionated TV " interviewers" who, following on in the tradition of Paul Holmes and Paul Henry, believe that an interview should be conducted between the interviewer and himself with the "interviewee" being merely a stage prop to be ridiculed and belittled.

6) They wanted a Leader who would and could take the fight to preserve the New Zealand society, the New Zealand social fabric, the New Zealand economy and the New Zealand tradition of supporting the aspirations of all regardless of social class, of income and of where they live to the floor of Parliament, to the hustings and to the public.

While all of the contenders demonstrated these abilities in various ways through out the Leadership campaigning it was David Cunliffe who demonstrated all of these qualities to the level expected by the Party Membership and for that he is to be congratulated.

Grant Robertson and Shane Jones have certainly demonstrated that there is a depth of talent and political aggression within the New Zealand Labour Party that has been, for too long, quiet and quiescient.

Now, let the real election campaign to rebuild New Zealand after two terms of"I'm quaite relacsshed about that" and behind closed doors questionable dealings government that has characterised the John PinoKeyo Key doublespeaking government.