The secret NZ First Deputy!

It says something about the culture of NZ First, that they seem to regard the identity of their deputy leader as a confidential secret.

Stuff reports:

Winston Peters says questions about New Zealand First’s deputy will soon be made clear, urging reporters to “be patient”.

Since Ron Mark returned to Parliament in 2014 there has been speculation that he may replace Tracey Martin as deputy, with talk mounting that a challenge had taken place this week.

This is like the days of the former USSR, where leadership changes were only announced some months after someone had died!

UPDATE: I understand that Mark did defeat Martin by one vote for the Deputy Leadership, after Richard Prosser swapped camps. We’ll find out tomorrow if this is correct, but heard from a parliamentary source.

It seems that Mark blames the Martins for his low list ranking last election, as he was seen as a threat – so this is a delayed utu.

If correct a shame for Tracy Martin, who I’ve found to be a decent MP. But the bigger issue is this is really all about who will succeed Winston Peters as leader. My money is still on Shane Jones.