There is no Luxon faction.
There is no team of loyalists that will die in a ditch for him. None. No one. No one who owes their career to him. No one who is only in parliament because of him. No one who is only in cabinet because of him.
This leaves him in a very weak position. Who in caucus can he trust?
Can he trust Nicola Willis, his finance spokesman who John Key and Bill English both think is a future prime minister.
Chris Bishop, who has “I want to be PM” practically stamped on his forehead for everyone to see?
Is there anyone around the cabinet table that he can trust if it comes to a knife fight? Who knows him as a bloke? Who has he had round for a few beers and a barbecue? Who has he gone fishing with? Any of them?
In the interests of being correct, readers are encouraged to comment with the names of any true Luxon loyalists that they know about.
Politicians need allies and they need factions. Those are the people others have to go through to get to the king. Does Christopher Luxon have any loyalists?
I think the answer is no, he does not.
Cam Slater is a New Zealand-based blogger, best known for his role in Dirty Politics and publishing the Whale Oil Beef Hooked blog, which operated from 2005 until it closed in 2019. Cam blogs regularly on the GoodOil - where this article was sourced.
This leaves him in a very weak position. Who in caucus can he trust?
Can he trust Nicola Willis, his finance spokesman who John Key and Bill English both think is a future prime minister.
Chris Bishop, who has “I want to be PM” practically stamped on his forehead for everyone to see?
Is there anyone around the cabinet table that he can trust if it comes to a knife fight? Who knows him as a bloke? Who has he had round for a few beers and a barbecue? Who has he gone fishing with? Any of them?
In the interests of being correct, readers are encouraged to comment with the names of any true Luxon loyalists that they know about.
Politicians need allies and they need factions. Those are the people others have to go through to get to the king. Does Christopher Luxon have any loyalists?
I think the answer is no, he does not.
Cam Slater is a New Zealand-based blogger, best known for his role in Dirty Politics and publishing the Whale Oil Beef Hooked blog, which operated from 2005 until it closed in 2019. Cam blogs regularly on the GoodOil - where this article was sourced.
10 comments:
Ahem, excuse me please Mr Slater but the Luxon lead coalition has maintained majority support through a very deep and long rescession.... an imcredible feat considering many of their policies wont bear fruit until next year.
Luckily, the National caucus has more intelligence than untrusted NZ journalists.
Maybe that's why, unlike many journalists, National mps have a job.
If Key and English support Willis, it just confirms that she is a ‘committed empire puppet’ and as for ‘get boosted’ Bishop??
It doesn't really matter whether Luxon has support or not from his caucus. What matters is that National has lost the support of many voters who will be looking for alternative parties at the next election. Willis and Bishop hold similar views to Luxon. National need a radical revamp.
'Chris Bishop, ... has “I want to be PM” practically stamped on his forehead for everyone to see?'
David Seymour has "future PM" practically stamped on his forehead for everyone to see.
He is personable, statesmanlike, unflappable, handles the media brilliantly, and enunciates clear principles uninfluenced by political expediency.
I predict that unless National rolls Luxboi and installs a leader who will support the Treaty Principles Bill going back to Parliament for a second and third reading, National will be overtaken by ACT as the largest party on that side of the House, come next election.
Luxboi "My Wife and I are learning Te Reo" Luxon is what is known in American political discourse as a 'Wigger.'
A Wigger in this country someone who rats out their own race and culture for that warm glow that comes from cosying up to the cannibals.
Brown supremacist part-Maori and their co-governance project would be dead in the water if not for several generations of tertiary-indoctrinated Wiggers feeling guilty for what race-baiting Marxist academics have told them past generations allegedly did.
Brown supremacist part-Maori and their liberal enablers are filth on the face of my country.
Sir,
Your role as Nat. cheerleader is clear. But you seem to miss the glaring error that Luxon ( aided by the dubious Finlayson - who, though self-styled genius, could not fool a demented 90 year old) has committed to honest NZers.
Up your game.
Regards.
For the thinking, Willis is worse than Luxon as believes in apartheid
For those who vote superficially - Willis has zero personality & Bishop is too ugly (sorry Bishop).
One person who could be good long term is that James guy…depending of course on whether he’s an ideologue like his peers. NZers love straight talkers. I guarantee a Trump-esk MP (without the fraud & misogyny) would be very popular.
The person who gets National votes will be the person who believes one voice, one vote & 2 genders. It’s very simple, yet apparently beyond the grasp of most MPs.
I strongly concur....it's NOT 'rocket science' really. Why the National hierarchy fail to see this is beyond ( mine at least ) comprehension ! :-(
I expected and hoped that after a few (presumably expensive) lessons in te reo Luxon would have issued a statement along the lines "I have persisted with several lessons. I did not initially realise just how limited the scope of expression is. And that the bulk of the language is very modern invention, not tradition. I have found the demand on my time misguided direction of effort and wasteful in the extreme. There are vastly more important and productive matters which require my urgent and full attention. It has become very clear to me that the same incurred inefficiency applies to the pursuit of te reo nation wide. So the Coaliton is henceforth going to adopt a policy of winding back te reo and consigning it to the stone age of history, where it belongs."
•Is there someone who sees through similar lenses when viewing the recent Cabinet reshuffle?
The one that stood out for me was the change of portfolios for the previous Minister of just-about-everything … Simeon Brown. I think Mr Luxon pretty-much demoted him before he could stage a palace coup.
•Another MP barking for attention is Minister Matt Doocey.
•The real power, other than the PM himself, lies with the four Treasury ministers, so time will tell if Ms Willis chooses to back Mr Luxon or jump ship to another Minister.
•I think contributor Janine expresses the situation admirably in her second sentence, ie. implying that voters who backed the Nats in 2023 are mightily peed-off that little *seems* to have changed for the better.
But for Luxon, National would still be languishing in Opposition.
That’s enough reason for a Luxon faction.
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