Simon Bridges, yesterday, announced that he might be prepared to operate in a grand coalition:
Leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges won’t rule out participating in a grand coalition to fight COVID-19, as he officially puts the National Party’s election campaign on hold.
A grand coalition, which occurs when a nation’s two dominant parties join forces in a coalition government, has only happened twice in New Zealand’s history.
The first was the cabinet of 1915-1919 assembled during World War I, and the second the coalition of 1931-1935 to combat the Great Depression.
Now, with the coronavirus presenting another opportunity to unite New Zealand’s largest political parties against a mutual enemy, Bridges told Magic Talk’s Peter Williams he’s open to the idea.
“A lot of people are saying those sort of things to me,” he said of suggestions that he and deputy National leader Paula Bennett could join the government.
“We’ve heard [Finance Minister and Labour MP] Grant Robertson, among others, say [we need to implement] a wartime-type response.
“I can’t answer your question clearly today, other than to say when the facts change, I change.
“We’ve got an openness to supporting and assisting here as we see something we’ve never seen before in New Zealand, certainly in my lifetime.”
The Prime Minister has already discounted this talk in her press conference yesterday. But the reality is that Bridges was the architect of his own rejection by playing politics over the past two weeks.
He was always going to be met with a “No!” on that. Had he instead, two weeks ago, made an approach rather than grandstanding in parliament like he did, he may have got somewhere.
Instead, his leadership, yet again, has come up a dollar short and a day late. When a nation is in crisis, those in charge get to hog the limelight. That’s just life and it makes Bill English’s inability to cut a deal a mistake with immense consequences for the country.
The only pity is that there is unlikely to be a caucus meeting now on March 31. National’s caucus is going to have to be innovative in shanking him remotely.