And the winners are
Don’t really need a drum roll, as people could see the results in the sidebar up until closing, but here goes.
The 2009 Kiwiblog MP of the Year is Lockwood Smith. Lockwood was always a hot favourite with rave reviews from the gallery and others for his efforts to make question time more relevant, and opening up MPs expenses to public scrutiny. Lockwood won 49% of the vote. Police and Corrections Minister was 2nd on 22%.
The 2009 Kiwiblog National MP of the Year is Steven Joyce. An impressive performance for a first term MP. His swift decision making on much needed national roads of significance has made him the motorists fan, as well as his steady decision making on the fibre to the home project. Steven got 39% of the vote, with Judith Collins in 2nd place on 28%.
Kiwiblog readers voted John Key the 2009 Kiwiblog Labour MP of the Year. Some readers will have voted him the best Labour MP tongue in cheek, while others will be sending a message that they want more right and less centre. The PM got 40% of the vote, with new MP David Shearer in 2dn place on 14%. Were readers giving Shearer esteem for his massive win in the by-election, or because they like his defence privatisation essays?
The 2009 Kiwiblog Minor Party MP of the Year is Tariana Turia. The Maori Party co-leader got 39% of the vote, with John Boscawen on 29%. Turia in the mid 1990s was one of the most polarising figures in NZ politics. It shows how successful her efforts have been, that in 2009 she can win a poll amongst the generally conservative readership to be the Minor Party MP of the Year.
The 2009 Kiwiblog Press Gallery Journalist of the Year is John Armstrong. John won 45%, narrowly pipping out Jane Clifton on 39%. Note this is the public poll of Kiwiblog readers. A separate poll of MPs and Press Secretaries on the press gallery will be published on Thursday or Friday. John is probably the most cited journalist online – not because people always agree with him, but because he provides analysis (not just reporting) almost every day.
Finally we have the 2009 Kiwiblog Public Servant of the Year and it is a tribute to Dame Margaret Bazley who got 48% of the vote, with Don Brash in second place at 38%. Lawyers have never been the most popular species, and the average pundit enjoyed her expose of the legal aid problems.
Note that despite me telling people not to do it, one Xtra user tried voting around 80 times in most categories. These show up in the logs like a flashing light, and those votes were deleted.