Boscawen to replace Roy

The Herald reports:

Act minister Heather Roy is facing the axe from John Key’s Administration today, after she is dumped by her parliamentary colleagues as deputy leader of Act.

First-term Act MP John Boscawen is expected to take her jobs as deputy leader and a minister.

Mrs Roy is said to again have been trying to rally party opinion against Rodney Hide.

It was sadly inevitable that this would happen at some stage, after the relationship between Rodney and Heather deteriorated last year. ACT would not be in Parliament without Rodney Hide, and they need a team going forward that can work together. This is the first stage of a rejuvenation.

In the past I hoped that one day Heather might be a natural successor to Rodney. She has always voted classically liberal, and on a personal level I have found her very engaging. The fallout between her and Rodney meant that this scenario became impossible, and I reached the conclusion that if Heather can’t be a loyal deputy to Rodney, then at some stage change would be inevitable. It looks like that change is today.

If Heather does lose her roles as Deputy Leader, and a Minister, then it is possible she will not choose to remain in Parliament, which would see Hilary Calvert of Dunedin become an MP.

John Boscawen should be a solid Minister. He has taken very well to parliamentary life, and has earned some respect on all sides for his work on finance company failures etc. What remains to be seen is if he will automatically take Heather’s portfolios, or if the PM may do a mini-reshuffle.