OPINION: My fellow Stuff columnist Damien Grant last week wrote he couldn’t work out what new National leader Judith Collins stood for.
I think the problem goes deeper for National. The party which has been in power for much of my adult life is having an identity crisis.
This crisis has had a long gestation but has been brought to a head by an ascendant Labour Party (with the Greens hanging on its coattails) under Jacinda Ardern.
As I have said before, Ardern presents her political opponents with an excruciating question. She asks them: “I know why I’m in politics, why are you?”.
Labour’s brand is that of a party that essentially is prepared to spend more on the less well-off in society. The leader represents the brand and in Ardern Labour has hit the jackpot. She is competent and compassionate.
She uses her political capital and connections to push ahead on progressive policies and drags the country along with her. Her motivation for being in politics appears to be mainly altruistic. For all we know she is a power freak but it is the optics that matter. Her mistakes are forgivable.
But what does National stand for? We know it’s a conservative party. Conservatism is about putting a brake on radical change and scepticism about any grand ideas to alter human nature. It represents (over others) the doers and producers – farmers, business, the self-employed, property owners, professionals – who rely on clarity, order, prudent spending and efficiency in government.
They are National’s natural base but because society is in a state of turmoil, even they can’t be relied on. Even big business talks about social responsibility, environmental sustainability and the benefits of diversity.
Because it believes it represents substantial people, National presents itself as the natural party of government. Its main appeal is practical rather than idealogical or altruistic. It sells itself as the best team to be running the country, better than the other lot anyway.
But the party is failing on all counts. As an economic manager, Labour was making a reasonable fist of the job until COVID-19 came along. The pandemic changed all the criteria by which economic management is assessed. Then National’s team started to fall apart, losing that crucial image of being a viable alternative government waiting in the wings.
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