Yet again we were ahead of the game. Do you remember this image that we posted as a Satirical image of the day? It shows Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon parachuting into the Botany electorate of ex-National MP Jami-Lee Ross.
Only a few weeks after we strongly hinted at his intention to stand for the National party in the Botany electorate, he has now resigned from Air New Zealand.
Clearly, he has quit because his position at the state airline was untenable given that he has been talked about in senior National party circles for quite sometime.
I do hope that he will also be announcing his resignation as Chairman from Ardern’s Business Advisory Council as well. It would not be a good look, and would certainly be a conflict of interest, for him to be campaigning as a National MP while still Chair of a Labour-led government council.
He has a problem now though if he enters politics as we have predicted. After our post circulated, he stated that he wasn’t going to parachute into the Botany electorate. To be fair though, being a liar does qualify him to be a politician.
Very few corporate heavyweights make good politicians as they are too used to getting their own way. Then there is also the problem that National doesn’t treat its “stars” very well.
He is just another David Kirk and the National party like service more than stardom.
John Key and Steve Joyce would be exceptions, but look at how that worked out. Do-nothing CV padders, more concerned with their own image than making New Zealand a better place, tend to bugger off when the going gets tough.
Our sources tell us that according to the plan, Christopher Luxon will be selected as the Botany candidate so the preselection committee will exclude any capable candidates to leave it free for him to compete against lightweight candidates. He and Simon Bridges should get along swimmingly as, like Simon Bridges, he takes his Christianity very seriously.
If his face is familiar it is because he has been our face of the day before, on June 5th, for taking a swipe at the airline industry’s record on gender diversity and inclusion. He said that more action was needed, such as refusing to serve on all-male panel talks and creating women’s support networks.
Some think that Jami-lee Ross will struggle to beat Christopher Luxon because the National party have spread so much dirt about him.
In his favour, Jami-Lee Ross has huge name recognition and Christopher Luxon, like many people, has skeletons of his own that could well be unearthed during the battle for Botany.
I say bring out the popcorn. Botany is shaping up to be a real nail biter.