I identify four very different TOP voters.
First, the protest voter. I have been a scrutineer. Some people go to the trouble of voting only to cross out every candidate. There were 16,252 informal party votes in 2023. TOP offers another way to register a protest.
Second, the single-issue voter.
Third, those who hate partisan politics.
Fourth, those who think TOP will make their preferred bloc the government.
If you cannot ride two horses, you should not be in the circus.
Quila Wong is riding four horses heading in different directions.
A party promising to do a deal with every established party is no longer a protest party.
TOP was founded as a single-issue party, advocating a guaranteed income funded by a land tax.
Wong can say the policy is still on the party’s website. That is where it will stay.
If it is not the priority before the election, it will never be after.
Seeking consensus is admirable. But we cannot do everything. In Parliament, MPs must vote Aye or No. There is no third lobby labelled future.
And those who want TOP to make their preferred bloc the government cannot all be satisfied.
The fourth horse is really two horses, left and right.
Whichever horse Wong chooses, many will feel betrayed.
The real question is not whether Quila Wong can ride five horses until Saturday, but which horse will she ride on Sunday?
The Honourable Richard Prebble CBE is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 1996 to 2004. This article was sourced HERE
Third, those who hate partisan politics.
Fourth, those who think TOP will make their preferred bloc the government.
If you cannot ride two horses, you should not be in the circus.
Quila Wong is riding four horses heading in different directions.
A party promising to do a deal with every established party is no longer a protest party.
TOP was founded as a single-issue party, advocating a guaranteed income funded by a land tax.
Wong can say the policy is still on the party’s website. That is where it will stay.
If it is not the priority before the election, it will never be after.
Seeking consensus is admirable. But we cannot do everything. In Parliament, MPs must vote Aye or No. There is no third lobby labelled future.
And those who want TOP to make their preferred bloc the government cannot all be satisfied.
The fourth horse is really two horses, left and right.
Whichever horse Wong chooses, many will feel betrayed.
The real question is not whether Quila Wong can ride five horses until Saturday, but which horse will she ride on Sunday?
The Honourable Richard Prebble CBE is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 1996 to 2004. This article was sourced HERE
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