Stuart Nash

This weekend is Labour’s summer school where they probably indoctrinate impressionable young people that the warped left wing world view actually can work. Somewhere. At some point in the future. They probably also teach how to bugger drunks draped over swiss balls and get away with it too, but that is probably not mentioned much in public.

Fair play to Labour. They had their worst result since 1928 last year, have a party broke and that selects useless, nasty and damaging candidates on the list ahead of good ones like Stuart Nash and Kelvin Davis, but they still run a summer school.

Why National doesn’t run a summer school is a total mystery, much like the rest of Peter Goodfellow’s tenure as President. He seemed to think it was a party time sinecure, not a full time job. It is hard to think of a single successful initiative within National that can be attributed to Peter’s leadership.

Nope, I thought about it, there isn’t a single one. The accolades for the election strategy and success can be rightly awarded to Steven Joyce and Jo de Joux. John Key can take credit for keeping everything under control with his MPs and remaining personally popular which papered over the yawning chasms in the party machine. Even fundraising was largely conducted by people other than the President, though he is busy trying claim credit for that in between going to war with bloggers who are actually on the same team.

In point of fact the only news that featured Peter Goodfellow was bad news. Compare that with Judy Kirk, who worked tirelessly in the background picking up cheques and putting in place initiatives like the Candidates College . Unfortunately most of Judy’s legacy has been squandered by an indolent president.

So a big credit to Labour, that despite all the hurdles that they face, they are focussing on training and the future by having a Summer School.

David Shearer has graced us with his presence after a holiday surfing and staying off line and out of touch. Nothing shows just how out of touch he is than the first news article showing him racing to Christchurch to cover a story that is weeks old. Like Phil Goff he is more interested in disaster porn than saving his ailing party.

Or is he just out of touch in his quaint way of appearing out of touch.

It also shows the folly of keeping new Chief of Staff, Stuart Nash, on gardening leave till February while Trevor Mallard sits in the office pulling the strings. While Stuart Nash has been busy with his newborn, Trevor Mallard, the old soldier is giving birth of his own to new plans…..he wouldn’t go on holiday, so fearful he is of losing the mechanisms of control within the party. Word has it that his lights have been burning bright in the parliamentary precinct during the break.

One thing for sure though is that the party is getting antsy. We have seen the hard left Labour local board members come out in support of the wharfies. Chris Trotter, ever the loyal servant of the party has expressed his disappointment through an open letter to Shearer and Denis Welch is openly disdainful of the “New ” Labour party lead by David Shearer.

Wise head John Pagani thinks, like David Farrar, that Labour should stay silent, but in doing so they are ceding the moral high ground on the issue to the Greens. They aren’t afraid to comment and are increasingly being seen as the go to guys for comment in the media. They are big fans of coastal shipping. Their credentials are much stronger than Labour’s which right now doesn’t even include platitudes for their long suffering funders.

Enter Helen Kelly, long time friend of hard core unionists like Trevor Mallard and Darien Fenton. Mallard has been furiously re-tweeting her assistance for MUNZ.

If the CTU can change Shearer’s mind it will prove once and for all that Labour is STILL in the pockets of their funders – the Unions…and Labour is no different than the one that polled its lowest in 80 years in November. Labour would have learned nothing from its electoral defeat.

David Shearer has to do something. It is clear that Labour hasn’t focus grouped this, otherwise we would have had some sort of pronouncement from the spokespeople concerned. So the old warhorses like Mallard have been quietly txting Shearer to stay tight and at the same time keeping a muzzle on Fenton because she is feral and can’t help herself saying something nasty.

Is it a slight on the confidence in Darien Fenton that she has been muzzled by the men from becoming the fourth woman on the wharf?

However in doing so Shearer now stands charged with becoming the puppet, albeit a silent puppet of Trevor Mallard. You have to wonder why he didn’t put his name forward for the leadership.

It might be his first week back but David Shearer can’t sit tight any longer. The test of his leadership will be the day of the strike. If Fenton shows up and says or does anything to show support for the striking unionists then it shows his control over the party caucus is tenuous. Shearer will have to act to exert caucus discipline otherwise he will be a lame duck leader, the puppet of Mallard.

Time and pressure will tell…sometimes it makes diamonds but most times dirty coal.

Cactus Kate got a letter…from the Labour Party…they posted it all the way to Hongkong. It thanked her for her substantial support of labour at the last election and also went on the bludge for more and a call to become a member:

Labour thank you letter

Seriously though if Labour wants to have Cactus Kate as a member they must be real low on membership but more importantly does this signal a return to their 1984-87 heyday by tantalising long time Act members with a resurgence.

There is only two ways to get Cactus Kate to do anything…offers of money or sex with hot men. Has Stuart Nash booked a flight for Hongkong?

I feel a song coming on:

Stuart Nash has a new son, born yesterday…no name yet but perhaps he could choose one from the list of the 100 most popular boys names…number 49 is a good one.

I’m told that one cheeky Labour MP txt’d “at least one Nash knows how to conduct a successful labour campaign”…heh

Congratulations Nashy.

Perhaps readers might like to make some suggestions…nice not nasty.

We all know that generally List MPs are scum. Some are more so than others.

Here is your chance to vent about the invisibile, the useless, the hopeless, the inept and the scum list MPs.

Ashraf Choudhary would have to rate as one of the worst List MPs, not only was he useless he was also invisible. Rajen Prasad would also qualify for this and labour rated him at number 20 above capable MPs like Stuart Nash and Kelvin Davis. While Prasad warms a seat in parliament the other two are looking for jobs.

Then of course you have the nasties: Darien Fenton, Steve Chadwick, Carol Beaumont and of course Sue Moroney. All distinctly unelectable and unlikeable.

Katrina Shanks would be up there for her completely inept speech on the “Skynet Bill”, speaking about that which she knows now’t.

The entire Green party would qualify except perhaps for Kevin Hague and Russel Norman.

via the tipline

Helen’s Christmas greeting has been leaked.

Trevor Mallard has stuffed his gearbox:

VW van gearbox stuffed. Time for a new red wagon.

December 18, 2011 11:04 am via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite

@TrevorMallard

Trevor Mallard

Let’s help out Trevor. Help him select a new vehicle without making the mistake of getting a gay ute like Craig Foss.

Stuart Nash has a fire engine for sale, I’m told it is about $9000. That could be a good start.

How about a red Hummer?

The so-called ‘fresh face‘ looks like a bit of a rehash. Three out of Four who have been elected to date are former staffers in the Clark administration.

• David Shearer – former staffer in Goff’s office under the Clark administration
• Grant Robertson – former staffer in Clark’s office
• Chris Hipkins – former staffer

Beyond that there are at least another three who have worked as staffers in Parliament. If Jacinda is elevated to front bench then might it suggest there is a new faction in the Labour Party. A powerful, former Clark admin staffer faction.

• Jacinda Ardern – former Clark staffer
• Moana Mackey – former Executive Secretary
• Kris Fa’afoi – Goff staffer

Of course Brendan Burns put a spanner in the works by losing…. not that Shearer could remember his name.

If Stuart Nash is serious about re-entering parliament then he should be applying for the now vacant Chief of Staff job, that way he’ll be on an easier and faster track to get back into Parliament in a nice cosy safe Labour seat.

If Cunliffe wins the Labour Leadership tussle, perhaps he’ll can find some room to bring back talent that should have been higher on the Party list.  Like the poor old Stuart Nash.

His office is now officially for sale.  Perhaps he could donate his firetruck as the new Whalemobile?

Though I’m reliably informed that the Firetruck can be had for about $9000.

I do wonder though if Stuart doesn’t really believe  the mantra about asset sales. Didn’t Goff say repeatedly…”When you’re in a hole, you don’t sell your ladder”.

Surely this qualifies as an asset sale when you’re in a hole.

Stuart Nash should really switch sides because only Cunliffe is going to axe the oldies that are sitting in his safe seat.

Winners

Sam Lotu-Iiga - In Auckland only one National MP increased his majority.  Sam increased his majority by 845 in the formerly safe Labour seat of Maungakiekie. Sam was blessed by having Carol Beaumont as his opponent.

Mike Sabin - John Carter had a huge reputation as a vote winner. So it is a huge surprise that Mike Sabin increased the majority in Northland by 601 votes. Well done Mike.

Stuart Nash - Hard to describe as a winner as he is no longer an MP but he reduced Chris Tremain’s majority by  5,636,  the biggest fall in majority of any National MP.

Losers

Labour Party for ranking Stuaert Nash behind unpleasant, unelectable vote losing MPs like Carol Beaumont, Carmel Sepuloni, Sue Moroney & Darien Fenton. Labour needs to learn that success as a unionist where ideological purity, general nastiness and willingness to do years of drudgery doesn’t translate to winning votes.