I agree with Mike Hoskings that Simon Bridges‘ announcement regarding ignoring NZ First was a masterstroke. It was also inevitable. There is no way National could be party to another of Winston’s post-election charades. He has now had his little game removed. It’s rather like taking snakes and ladders off a child. He can’t now take anyone up a ladder or down a snake. There is now a certainty that a vote for NZ First is a vote for a Labour-led government. The reasoning by a NZ First MP that a vote for NZ First will prevent the excesses of a Labour/Green government may be correct in theory but it won’t cut any ice with National voters who were betrayed last time.
Simon, by doing what he has done, has taken the wind out of Winston’s sails which reminds me of that great poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Simon’s declaration effectively means that Winston has shot the bird, Simon, that made the breeze to blow and enabled him to play his little games. The NZ First ship is now becalmed, as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean.
I have read various articles on the pros and cons and the timing of Simon’s move but the reality is that Winston is never going to go with National and even if he did it wouldn’t last a term. He is simply too disruptive. The COL has only lasted because Winston is effectively running the show. The real leader is clueless. Jacinda might sport the Palmolive smile but the real teeth belong to Winston. If you accept that, and The BFD poll shows that most have by agreeing Simon was right, then there can be no argument.
I don’t agree that Simon doesn’t have a pathway to victory. There is now a clear option of the road on which to travel. I also don’t agree that Winston has taught Simon a lesson, it’s very much the other way around. National is showing that they will not be messed with and neither are they prepared to go into government on Winston’s terms, i.e. at all costs. I would not be at all surprised to see ACT exceed two per cent and as ibdkiwi pointed out that is the other half of the winning equation.
Simon has put a stake in the ground. Whether we like him as the leader or not, it is now up to us to prove him right.
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