MPs and Holidays

Generally an MP’s family status is pretty irrelevant to their public duties, and shouldn’t be part of public debate.

But you know if Helen Clark is going to do cheap whacks at John Key and Bill English with lines such as:

They do seem to work pretty short weeks and years in my experience. I’ve found this job is pretty all-consuming

Then it is 100% legitimate for people to consider issues of family status. Because it is massively different when you have kids. They’re not the same as partners, parents or nephews.

Suggesting Key or English are lazy or uncommitted is a cheap jibe from Clark, and she should know better than to criticise when it is inevitable that people would critique her comments in the context of the fact that for her politics is all-consuming – but others do not have that luxury. That does not make them uncommitted – just trying to balance competing demands.

Now to be fair to Clark, she was responding to a question from a journalist who asked if the holidays were a sign of over-confidence. But she’s been in politics for 30 years and should be better trained to resist the urge to take a swipe.

And anyone complaining about the response from Key or English that they are spending time with their kids. Well what the hell do you expect their response to be? I mean it is the truth. They are. They’re not in Vegas playing Blackjack or backpacking through Europe.

Most MPs are hard working. This not a 40 hour a week job. I doubt any but a very few obscure List MPs do less than 60 hour weeks. Senior politicians such as Key and English would routinely be working 15 hour days for six days a week which is 90+ hours a week. That is not a “pretty short week”.