Leighton Smith has listened to New Zealanders, or more precisely National party supporters, and they are angry!
“National blew it”. My sentiments, but not my words. It was one pithy sentence in a strongly worded email from a listener to my podcast regarding National endorsing the Government’s Zero Carbon Bill. And the author delivered plenty more venom.
I don’t have intimate insight into every National supporter’s reaction to this “betrayal” but the mood I am witnessing suggests it’s a good time for a couple of minor parties to be active.
Yes, while National has kicked their rural supporter base in the slats there is now space for ACT and New Conservatives to step up as their champions.
National had the perfect opportunity to paint themselves as a strong opposition quite distinct from Labour by opposing the Zero Carbon Bill. Instead, they simply confirmed what many have been starting to fear for a while now that they are actually “Labour-lite” and a “rudderless ship”.
Leighton had an e-mail from an ex-National MP who said: “this window-dressing, virtue signalling bill is indicative of their lack of political spine and being blinded to the views of what used to be their core constituency”. He also intimated that National were cowards and voted for it because they were scared of being called climate deniers.
I was asked by a woman on the political fringe, “what is National’s core, what do they stand for? What is their purpose?” Without waiting for a reply she answered her own question. “Basically it’s to keep the other lot out”.
[…] Right now I could see NZ First disappear and Labour and the Greens married and in bed together after the ballots are counted. Equally, rumours of a rural group winning a handful of seats, if they got their act together, could hold the balance of power. Act or the New Conservatives could be in the same position. Then maybe, just maybe, National could throw up a new leader and duplicate what Jacinda Ardern achieved in 2017.
NZ Herald