Helen Augusta

Chris Trotter uses my favourite period of history – the Roman Republic, to make an analogy with Labour. His conclusion:

Like the broken Roman republic, an exhausted, strife- torn Labour Party bestowed upon the last general standing the title of imperator. Oh yes, the forms of the old party remained intact: there was still a New Zealand council, a policy council, affiliates, LECs and branches. But Helen, like Octavian, while paying lip service to republican forms, delivered imperial substance.

Now, 14 years into the reign of Helen Augusta, the thoughts of a new generation of Labour leaders is finally turning to the succession. With opinion polls registering just 35 per cent support, the question on everyone’s lips is can the emperor be replaced without endangering the empire?

The answer is probably not. And surely, that’s the point.

Political parties, especially those of the Left, should never allow themselves to be turned into monarchies. No organisation grows stronger by ceding its most important decision- making responsibilities to a single individual.

If a Labour Party led by anyone other than Helen Clark faces imminent collapse, then it is guilty of creating a monarch to rival Louis XV, and, like him, she can rightly prophesy: Apres moi le deluge.

The reality is that Goff is the only MP left capable of leading Labour after Clark, and he is so distrusted by so many that a Goff leadership would probably be very short – like Mike Moore’s.