Labour is alrady experiencing the problem of long serving by inept MPs blocking new blood by staying on long past their useful political life. By failing to refresh it meant that they went into the first post-Clark election with a whole bunch of ex-Clark ministers as their main faces. The electorate decided that those faces still don’t fit. National runs the risk of repeating Labour’s mistakes in 2014 if they don’t start looking at refreshing some of the caucus.
Political parties should look at proper human resources management of MPs. There are many in National and Labour that are well past their use by date but stick around damaging the party because no one has the courage to to tell them to move on so that party renewal can take place.
Instead they sit in nice safe seat choking the life out of membership and potential replacements with their intransigence. The Board and Senior political management need to really be sitting down some senior MPs and explaining to them their extremely limited career prospects, the fact that if they stay they will be put on a black list so that they never get a government appointment and how it would be best for all if they signalled their retirement.
National’s constitution and rules have some handy clauses that would make the exiting of problem MPs relatively easy. Plus the time honoured tradition of a good challenge in a few seats should be encouraged by a board that finds its balls. John Key after all won selection in a challenge.
Some National MPs aren’t getting the message, it is time the message firmed up for them.
