It is true that Shane Jones has made far more ‘splash’ in the headlines than his boss lately. It is also true that his efforts have been consistent and grabbed public attention. Some would say that he possesses all the hallmarks of a ‘populist‘ leader and that he is quite capable of attracting ‘middle NZ,’ (not Middle Earth!) to Labour’s cause.
Why is he doing this? The latest ‘theory’ proposed by some pundits is that he deliberately trying to either distance himself from the current leadership, or possibly causing a rift in which he either challenges for the leadership (here we go again!) or gets excluded from the LP and then joins NZ First, sharing the leadership of that party, attracting many votes and takes over from Winston at an agreed date in the future (2017).
Would Shane go along any of these paths? I suspect that his loyalty to the Labour Party is far less shallow than that. While it is true that he isn’t exactly close to Greens, the probable team player in a future Labour led Government, I think that he would find some of NZ First’s policies a little too far from his political leanings. But, the more I think about it, a move towards NZ First does make some sort of sense. Without a doubt, it would push that party well above the necessary 5% threshold and even win an electorate seat for himself. If any of this eventuated, we would be in for a very interesting period in NZ political history.
What are you going to do, Shane? I know you are calling such talk---poppycock, but one does wonder at your moves in recent times, just when your leader is languishing in the polls. As for National and the other parties---there is nothing in this for them! Maybe this story really does not have ‘legs;’ like the one re Hone and KDC!
www.authorneilcoleman.com
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