Shearer wins Labour’s nomination
Congratulations to David Shearer who won Labour’s nomination, and commiserations to those who missed out. So who are the winners and losers:
Winners
- David Shearer – likely MP for Mt Albert
- Phil Goff – he got his hand picked candidate through, despite local resistance
- Russel Norman – Shearer’s selection allows him to campaign more aggressively for left wing votes
- John Key – having Shearer in the Labour Caucus will reduce the impact of any cries of privatisation from Labour – not a get out of jail card, but will be useful.
Losers
- The National candidate – Shearer will be tougher to beat than some of the other candidates Labour could have gone with. His overseas work is appealing
- Helen Clark – I doubt someone who advocates replacing UN peacekeepers with mercenary armies would have been her first choice of candidate
- Phil Twyford – won’t find a seat as good as Mt Albert
- The other candidates for Labour – the flying in of Shearer was a signal that the hierarchy was concerned none of them would win
Now of course six weeks is a long time in politics, and by-elections are fickle creatures. I know at least two media organisations are planning to poll the seat, so it will be interesting to see how it looks in a fortnight.